Controversial S#!T

President Trump is looking to cash in on the Mueller Report ... because he's asking his supporters to buck up for his re-election campaign and send a HUGE message to his haters.

Trump's campaign sent an email Thursday to subscribers, hours after the Prez declared victory and total vindication over the Mueller Report, asking them to help raise a million bucks in 24 hours.

Trump's campaign is taking tons of swipes at the Democrats and "Fake News" media ... asking how many times must he be exonerated before the attacks stop.

We're guessing Trump's campaign staffers didn't read the Mueller Report, because Mueller said he could not exonerate the Prez.

POTUS declared "Game Over" moments after Attorney General William Barr held a news conference saying Mueller found nothing on Trump ... but his campaign says this is just the beginning of the "attacks and lies" as the 2020 election nears.

Jason Biggs and Jenny Mollen's 5-year-old son, Sid, is recovering from a broken skull, which Jenny admits happened because she dropped him last weekend.

Jenny made the revelation Wednesday, saying ... "On Saturday evening I dropped my son on his head causing him to fracture his skull and landing him in the ICU." She added, Sid is home now and "recovering nicely."

As for why she decided to tell the world ... "My heart goes out to all parents who have or will ever find themselves in this kind of position. You are not alone."

This is kind of Jenny's thing -- she's pretty open about the ups and downs of parenthood. Back in November, she revealed their 1-year-old, Lazlo, was bitten by a dog.

Despite the seriousness of Sid's injury ... Jenny cracked a bit of humor in her post. After thanking all the nurses, doctors, cafeteria staff and janitors at the NYC hospital where he was treated -- as well as Jason -- she said, "Not sure how this post turned into an Oscars acceptance speech."

Ahmed Best -- the man who played the most despised and ridiculed 'Star Wars' character -- says George Lucas naming Jar Jar Binks as his favorite character is helping him heal lasting wounds.

Ahmed tells us George's surprise pick is putting him on a really strong path to healing ... after dealing with thoughts of suicide following the enormous backlash he faced over his role in the 'Star Wars' saga.

In case you missed it ... the famed director raised eyebrows among even the most die-hard 'Star Wars' fans earlier this week, when he called into a fan event marking the 20th anniversary of "Star Wars Episode 1: The Phantom Menace" and named Jar Jar as his all-time fav.

Critics teed off on Jar Jar for years ... calling the amphibious alien creature a terrible exercise in child-pleasing, who perpetuated racist stereotypes with a strange Caribbean accent.

Ahmed says the backlash wreaked havoc on his career ... because his movie offers dried-up and he was never approached to play different roles in the new 'Star Wars' movies. Ahmed says being black didn't help his cause either, and other black actors were stigmatized as well.

11:34 AM PT -- Michael Avenatti has waded into the Jussie Smollett drama down in Chicago, saying he almost got directly involved when the case was at its peak in February. Avenatti explains -- in a statement he posted and then deleted from Twitter -- that counsel for the Osundairo brothers reached out to him to see if he could potentially help 'em out.

Avenatti says he ultimately declined, but along the way ... he says he reached out to Kim Foxx to give her a heads-up about his possible involvement as a courtesy. He insists there's nothing improper about this, as he claims it's routine.

There's more -- Avenatti goes on to slam R. Kelly's attorney, Steven Greenberg, saying SG is trying to muck up the Kelly case by personally attacking Avenatti over his own legal woes. What's more, Avenatti says Greenberg is "attempting to create a smokescreen to distract away from the mountain of evidence" Avenatti claims the Cook County State Attorney has against the singer to prove he abused underage girls.

Avenatti says the evidence will speak for itself, adding that he hopes Kim Foxx and co. will bring justice to Kelly's alleged victims. He goes further in praising her, saying she and her staff are "extremely professional, unbiased and focused on the delivery of justice."

It's almost a word-for-word counter to Greenberg's claim that Foxx's office is barely functioning in chaos in the ongoing fallout of the since-dismissed Jussie case.

R. Kelly's legal team thinks Kim Foxx calling the singer a "pedophile" before he's even been given a fair trial is a clear look into how her office is run ... totally dysfunctional.

Kelly's attorney, Steven Greenberg, tells TMZ ... Foxx's texts to a fellow staffer -- in which she implicitly referred to his client as a pedo in comparing his case to Jussie Smollett's -- was outrageous, considering Kelly hasn't been convicted of any such crime.

Greenberg says Foxx is letting her personal biases color the way she characterizes Kelly's case -- which she implied was a way bigger deal than Jussie's in her correspondence that was made public Tuesday.

As we reported ... Foxx called Jussie a "washed up celeb" who'd been slapped with 16 felony counts, while going on to indirectly compare that to R. Kelly only getting charged with 10 counts ... saying there was a discrepancy there as far as priorities go.

Of course, her office ultimately dropped all the charges against Jussie.

Greenberg tells us that the fact that Foxx is even having these types of conversations with her staff in this manner paints a larger picture about the Cook County State Attorney's Office ... he calls it "dysfunctional and chaotic." He also thinks Foxx lacks objectivity.

That said, Greenberg says he isn't calling for Foxx to be removed from the Kelly case just yet. He tells us there's evidence and discovery he wants to get his hands on first before doing anything.

Greenberg adds ... once he and his team get everything they need, they'll make a decision on what to ask as far as Foxx's involvement is concerned.

TIME Magazine just released their annual list of the 100 most influential people -- and the outlet's catching serious backlash for including a guy many have dubbed a villain ... as well as his alleged victim.

Both Christine Blasey Ford and Brett Kavanaugh are among TIME's 100, and lots of folks are taking issue with Justice Kavanaugh's nomination ... courtesy of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who penned Brett's relatively brief entry.

McConnell says when "unhinged partisanship and special interests sought to distract" the Senate from considering Kavanaugh's sterling record as a judge, the country "saw his resilience and commitment to public service."

His actual testimony was a bit more raucous than how Mitch characterizes it here, but either way ... people are NOT happy he's in there with Blasey Ford, who got categorized with the "Icons" of the list. Senator Kamala Harris praised her courage for coming forward with her story of sexual violence, saying she forced the country to reckon with the issue.

There were some other notable entries in the Top 100 list as well, with some stars transcending into the icons category while others were left behind as just "Artists."

Taylor Swift, Lady Gaga, and Spike Lee are all icons now. Meanwhile, Ariana Grande, BTS, The Rock, Emilia Clarke and Glenn Close are nothing more than artists.

9:20 PM PT -- Hardwick's attorney just fired back at Cadence13, telling us, "Cadence13 is the only party in breach - the company owes Chris $3 million - and filing this lawsuit is their last ditch, desperate attempt to try and avoid fulfilling their obligations to pay him."

Chris' lawyer continues, "The truth is that Chris has delivered over 30 podcast episodes since October 2018 and hasn't been paid a dime, while Cadence13 has collected hundreds of thousands of dollars in ad revenue during that period."

In an interesting twist ... Hardwick's attorney says, "There is extraordinary irony in the fact that the law firm representing C13 in this action is the same one which conducted a comprehensive investigation and exonerated Chris of the baseless allegations (of emotional and sexual abuse) referenced in the filing."

"Chris and his team will take all appropriate steps to recover the millions of dollars which C13 contractually owes him."

Chris Hardwick is being accused of bowing out of a deal to produce a weekly podcast and failing to pay back the rest of his $1 million cash advance ... this according to a new lawsuit.

In legal docs, obtained by TMZ, podcast company Cadence13 claims Chris signed a two-year deal in early 2018 to create four podcasts per month ... but the company claims Chris stopped making new episodes in June of last year after an actress accused him of emotional and sexual abuse.

As we've reported ... Chris' ex-girlfriend, Chloe Dykstra, accused him of sexual and emotional abuse during their relationship. Hardwick denied the accusations.

In the suit, Chris' podcast partner claims it paid the comedian $1 million in advances, but claims he's yet to pay the full amount back after stopping his weekly "ID10T" podcast.

6:48 PM PT -- Kim Foxx has responded to the release of her messages, stating, "After the indictment became public, I reached out to Joe to discuss reviewing office policies to assure consistencies in our charging and our use of appropriate charging authority."

She continues, "I was elected to bring criminal justice reform and that includes intentionality, consistency, and discretion. I will continue to uphold these guiding principals."

State's Attorney Kim Foxx called Jussie Smollett a "washed up celeb" just 2 weeks before dismissing all charges against him for allegedly triggering a massive police investigation based on a big, fat lie.

Foxx sent text messages to certain staff members -- this according to CBS2 in Chicago. The upshot -- she seems to be saying the Grand Jury grossly overcharged the "Empire" actor, especially relative to another celebrity defendant -- R. Kelly.

Foxx wrote ... "Pedophile with 4 victims 10 counts. Washed up celeb who lied to cops, 16." As we reported, Kelly was charged with 10 counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse.

As you know ... the State's Attorney dismissed all 16 counts against Jussie and suggested he had performed community service -- which he did not. Point of fact ... he worked at Jesse Jackson's charity for a few hours the weekend before charges were dismissed, but it was not court ordered or monitored.

The City of Chicago is now suing Jussie for all the investigative costs and various penalties, which could amount to half a million bucks.

Foxx says in the texts this was a clear case of overcharging ... as she put it, charging Jussie with 16 counts on a minor felony "becomes exhibit A."

The texts were first reported by CBS Chicago's Charlie De Mar.

Originally Published -- 4:51 PM PT

"Full House" creator Jeff Franklin says he was double-crossed by one of his co-workers ... leading to Jeff getting fired from the show ... according to a lawsuit.

Franklin says he hired Bryan Behar to be a writer and co-executive producer on "Fuller House" ... but he allegedly spread lies about him to create a "false narrative" that Franklin was a sexist pig around women with whom they both worked.

In the suit, Franklin accuses Behar of taking advantage of the "Me Too" movement and telling Warner Bros. execs that Franklin told female writers to "dress provocatively," commented on their looks and discussed his sex life with them.

One of the most damaging falsehoods -- according to docs obtained by TMZ -- involved a pool party for show writers at Franklin's home. Behar allegedly told execs Franklin demanded female writers all wear bikinis at the event. Franklin insists he merely made suits available for anyone who forgot to bring one.

As for Behar's motive? In the suit, Franklin says Behar was out for his job, and "began plotting a scheme ... by secretly keeping a self-described "little black book'" filled with events he could twist or distort to make Franklin look bad.

Franklin was fired earlier this year, and he points out in the suit ... Behar got promoted to executive producer and showrunner for "Fuller House." Franklin gloats in his lawsuit, highlighting the fact the show's going off the air after its upcoming 5th season.

Michelle Obama condemned President Trump but in doing so took a swipe at divorced dads ... and she's catching heat for it.

The former First Lady was promoting her new memoir "Becoming" in London when she struggled to find a metaphor describing America's fascination with Donald Trump -- a fascination that turned bad.

You hear Stephen Colbert -- who moderated Michelle's chat -- tee off first, and then she launches, equating America's troubles with that of a teenager who spends the weekend with his/her divorced dad who makes things fun at first and then gets the youngster sick.

The fallout from the video -- obtained by The Independent -- was immediate as people, especially divorced dads, took offense at the intimation divorced dads are somehow lesser than divorced moms.

Someone tweeted, "I admire @MichelleObama, but I really wish she wouldn't use divorced dads as a metaphor for Trump. I hear some of them are quite awesome." Someone else said, "As a divorced dad, I do my best to raise my son into a kind of man of which we all can be proud. Your comment doesn't help people see that I'm conscientious and competent to do a good job."

It gets worse ... someone who actually liked Obama and disliked Trump said, "You've shown that you can say just as rude and insensitive comments as Trump."

Marlon Wayans says all the buzz about "Game of Thrones" and its final season is missing one thing -- some brothas in the Brotherhood Without Banners ... or anywhere else in Westeros, for that matter!

We got the comedian at LAX Monday and he admitted he's not down with the 'GoT' craze, partly because he's noticed there's a major lack of black actors. He points out the biggest characters of color on the show aren't even human -- the dragons -- and don't get nearly enough respect.

That's not his only beef with HBO's hit show ... his other issue is all about making the most of his time -- and he's decided to throw it into a different cable sensation.

The 'Thrones' Season 8 premiere Sunday night became the most-watched scripted show of the year so far and shattered HBO's ratings record with 17.4 million viewers across all platforms ... though Marlon wasn't among them.

And, for the record, there have been a handful of black characters on the show ... like Daenerys' right-hand gal Missandei, along with Grey Worm, Xaro Xhoan Daxos and Salladhor Saan.

Lori Loughlin is ready for a fight, because she's just entered her plea in the case that could land her in prison for years ... and that plea is NOT GUILTY.

Lori and her husband, Mossimo Giannulli, entered pleas to all charges -- conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud and honest services mail and wire fraud, and conspiracy to commit money laundering.

Lori and Mossimo did not appear in court ... they entered their plea via court documents filed by their attorneys.

Olivia Jade's parents both face a minimum of 4 years and 9 months in prison ... and that's even if they cop a plea.

As we reported, the U.S. Attorney out of Boston gave all of the parents an ultimatum ... either take a plea or the case would go to the Grand Jury and additional charges would be filed, and that's exactly what happened.

Our sources say a plea bargain is still on the table.

And, as we reported, Felicity Huffman has already copped a plea and faces a minimum of 4 months in prison. As for the disparity -- it's all based on the amount of money the parents paid. Felicity paid $15,000 to have her daughter's SAT test rigged. Lori and her husband allegedly paid $500,000 to an athletic coach to get their 2 daughters into USC.

The historically black all-male university that people like Martin Luther King Jr., Samuel L. Jackson and other famous folks attended will now start accepting transgender men onto its campus ... but there's a catch that excludes other trans students.

Atlanta's Morehouse College announced this weekend that it would begin admitting transgender students who identify as male starting in the fall semester of 2020. The move comes as part of its new Gender Identity Admissions and Matriculation Policy.

It also follows in the footsteps of neighboring Spelman College -- an all-female university -- which rolled out a similar policy for transgender women in 2017.

There's a caveat though -- Morehouse says its trans policy will only be applicable to students who identify as men throughout their academic careers. Any man who transitions from male to female during their time at Morehouse will not be eligible for enrollment.

It goes without saying, trans women won't be eligible for initial admission either. The good news ... the school says any already-enrolled students who identified as trans women before 2020 will be able to graduate. But, after 2020, that ain't gonna be the case.

Just to give you a sense of how historically important this college is, here's a brief list of some of its other famous alumni: Spike Lee, Herman Cain, Guru, John David Washington, Donn Clendenon, Fonzworth Bentley, Metro Boomin, Isaac Keys, Bill Nunn ... and many, many other guys who went on to great success.

R. Kelly's virtually getting smoked out by the feds in his own backyard as prosecutors frantically look to interview Kelly's associates in connection with their sex trafficking investigation.

Sources close to the case tell TMZ ... federal prosecutors in the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Illinois this week contacted parties closely associated with Kelly. We're told there was a sense of urgency to the calls ... prosecutors wanted to speak to them ASAP.

As you know ... there are 2 separate U.S. Attorney probes into Kelly -- one by the Eastern District of NY and another by the Southern District. Our sources tell us the Northern District of Illinois' investigation is unrelated to either of those other cases. This appears to be a third and entirely separate case that Illinois is building against Kelly.

Either way, it's bad news for him ... the feds are now in Kelly's own backyard looking into the singer. BTW ... Homeland Security is also looking into possible human trafficking ... so things are really piling on for Kelly.

Anthony Gonzalez -- an ex-Ohio State star and current Republican congressman -- says he's fine with Nick Bosa deleting his pro-Trump tweets ... saying the NFL prospect should focus on football.

Bosa made the announcement this month that he was cutting back the political rhetoric on his Twitter page -- which used to feature Trump praise as well as scorn for national anthem kneelers.

His reason? Per ESPN, "I had to. There is a chance I might end up in San Francisco."

Enter Gonzalez ... who says he's cool with the ex-Buckeyes superstar making that call, telling TMZ Sports, "When you're playing football, I think the goal should be to focus on the game."

As for how Bosa's previously loud political opinions will impact his relationship with future teammates ... Gonzalez thinks it won't be an issue at all.

"There's not a lot that could really distract individual players. That was always my experience."

Mayor Pete Buttigieg isn't fooling himself ... Donald Trump will target him with homophobic remarks as the 2020 Presidential campaign heats up.

The openly gay South Bend Mayor, who has soared in popularity, will appear on "TMZ Live" Monday ... the day after he formally announces his bid to make a move to 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.

Buttigieg has a plan if Trump goes low ... confront and disengage.

The Mayor will tackle a variety of issues on "TMZ Live", from courting voters who may have predisposed views of gays, to the consequences people should face if they cheat to get their kids into college.

And, hint ... he plays a respectable guitar!!!

Buttigieg is expected to make a formal announcement he's running on Sunday.

Nipsey Hussle was caught between enormous success and love for his neighborhood, like many other rappers, and that ultimately cost him his life -- at least, in Suge Knight's eyes.

Knight tells TMZ ... he fully understands the situation Nipsey was in, "A lot of artists like Nipsey have the same problem that I had. We are too loyal to our neighborhood." He says, even though you have enough money to move, you want to stay on the block because "when you go around Hollywood it's all watered down."

The former Death Row Records mogul -- who is currently serving his sentence in a California prison -- says he loved to go back to his hood to "get chili cheese fries and strawberries and talk to my lil homies." However, he adds, when you do that you need those homies to "help you survive."

Knight's insinuation is clear -- and controversial -- that the people closest to Nipsey could have done more to keep him safe.

As you know, Nip was murdered outside his Marathon Clothing store. Police believe Eric Holder pulled the trigger ... allegedly after feeling Nipsey had disrespected him by calling him a snitch.

The tragedy reminds Suge of Tupac Shakur -- not only because of the way they died but also how they lived. Knight says, "I feel that Nipsey was trying to follow the same Tupac manual to the community. He came together with YG like Snoop did with Tupac."

Ultimately, he thinks Nipsey's legacy can be unity, something that hasn't happened in L.A. since the early 90s. Referring to the L.A. gangs' peace march that went down 5 days after the murder ... Suge told us, "What's good is that all the hoods getting together now ... we can be stronger considering what happens when we come together."