Controversial S#!T

Dennis Hof was a lover, not a murderer and he did NOT try to kill Lamar Odom ... so says Hof's best friend, porn star Ron Jeremy.

Just hours after Odom went on "The View" and claimed the late Love Ranch brothel owner poisoned him on the day he overdosed back in 2015 ... we spotted Ron outside the Rainbow Bar & Grill in L.A. and asked him if there was any truth to LO's allegation.

"Read my lips," Ron told us ... "NOOOOO!!!"

Of course, Hof passed away in October 2018 ... so he can't exactly defend himself -- but Hof always described Jeremy as his best friend, so he might be the next best person to ask.

"Why would Dennis do this? What could he possibly gain?" Jeremy said.

Jeremy essentially told us he NEVER heard Hof discuss such plans to kill Odom and says he wants to see all of Odom's alleged evidence.

On the flip side, Jeremy says Hof had a ton of celebrity friends and was always thinking of ways to grow his business ... and murdering Odom wouldn't have been in his best interest.

Swae Lee says he empathizes with Meek Mill because he too has experienced the firm grip of the Cosmopolitan Hotel -- which he says has a bad rap in hip-hop.

The Rae Sremmurd rapper made his point to us while leaving the Avenue Lounge Tuesday night in Hollywood, where he said he felt Meek "100%" in regards to the Philly MC planning to sue the Cosmo for allegedly barring him due to the color of his skin.

Remember, Meek and his entourage were met at the front door by security over the weekend and wouldn't let him in and threatened him with arrest if he got out of his vehicle.

The Cosmo has officially said Meek was booted because of a capacity issue at a club on site, but that doesn't square with the hotel's hired muscle who told Meek he was being denied because of a "prior incident." Meek's lawyer, Joe Tacopina, calls BS and says this is pure racism and says Meek will sue.

Swae tells us he's also had a bad experience with the Vegas establishment, and when we pressed him on what exactly happened ... he says their staff was super aggro with him for no reason.

Jenelle Evans has lost custody of her kids, largely because her husband, David Eason, has created an abusive environment at home ... and this video seems to be evidence of that.

We're told the video was shot sometime this year at the family's North Carolina home. You hear a baby in the background as David launches, saying, "You could die right now for all I give a f***. You're a f***ing piece of s**t. You're the biggest f***ing piece of s*** I know."

You then see him flip off the camera operator and walk away.

From all we know, hardly anyone was allowed in the family home, and it appears Jenelle is behind the camera and the comments are directed at her.

As we reported, the judge in the custody case has stripped Jenelle and David of custody for the time being, after concluding David and Jenelle have put the kids at risk.

We're told one of the things that came out during the hearing was that 4-year-old Kaiser was terrified to go to David and Jenelle's home because he was terrified of David and had been mistreated by him.

One source said squarely, "It's all David's fault."

Jenelle has steadfastly stood behind David, and now they must attend parenting classes, counseling and weekly drug testing before there's any hope of them regaining custody.

The video is a glimpse into what appears to be a very turbulent home life.

Meek Mill's claim the Cosmopolitan Hotel keeps a blacklist of black rappers is BS ... according to sources connected to the hotel.

Meek's attorney, Joe Tacopina, made a bombshell allegation against the resort -- claiming he has knowledge of a list that specifically makes black rappers persona non grata, and he believes that's precisely why his client was ordered to leave the hotel without even getting out of his vehicle, or face arrest.

Our Cosmo sources insist the hotel has always been more than accommodating with celebs, including black rappers, and the VIP staff goes out of its way to make sure everyone is comfortable.

Meek clearly wasn't comfortable when he was confronted by security Saturday and told to get the hell out or else. The hotel told us they turned him away because the Marquee Dayclub was filled to capacity, but it doesn't jibe with Cosmo security telling Meek he was not welcome because of a "prior incident."

Security would not be specific about any such prior incident, but a Cosmo source claimed Meek got in a fight with security a while ago. Tacopina says it's utter BS.

The Cosmo has maintained it has "zero tolerance for discrimination."

Magic Johnson is strongly refuting an ESPN report that he bullied Lakers staffers during his time as an exec with the organization -- saying, "it never happened."

Just hours after ESPN published the bombshell report, Magic appeared on SportsCenter to address it, explaining that if the allegations were true, he would've been called into Jeanie Buss' office to deal with the incidents.

"Do you think Jeanie Buss would allow me to abuse the employees?" Magic said. "If that was the case, she would've called me in."

Instead, Johnson says he was never informed about such issues and believes the allegations in the report are not based in reality.

"I'm a person who brings everybody together, uplifting employees. I never abused an employee and I never will. That's not what I'm about."

As we previously reported, the ESPN article cites multiple unnamed Lakers staffers who claim Magic would berate employees and essentially created a hostile work environment

Jenelle Evans and David Eason suffered a major court defeat Tuesday, when a judge ruled they will not regain custody of their 3 children ... and they will have virtually no face-to-face contact for the time being.

After 4 days of explosive testimony, in which Jenelle, David, Kaiser's dad Nathan Griffith and others testified about problems in the home, the judge decided there were serious issues with Jenelle and David that put the children at risk.

The trigger for the hearing was David killing the family dog earlier this month. As we reported, Child Protective Services ordered 4-year-old Kaiser to stay with Nathan, 9-year-old Jace with his grandma, Barbara, and 2-year-old Ensley also with Barbara.

Sources connected to the case tell TMZ, for the time being, Jenelle and David can see their kids only once a week for an hour with supervision.

As one source put it, "It's all David's fault."

Another source says the judge laid out a number of steps Jenelle and David must take in order to regain custody, including parenting classes, counseling and weekly drug testing.

And yet, another source told us Kaiser was "extremely fearful" of going back to the family house and claimed he was mistreated by David. His concerns were brought up in court and we're told affected the judge's decision.

As for Jenelle, one source says she was "stunned" by the ruling and believed she would walk out of court Tuesday with her kids. Instead, she walked out with David.

The Detroit Tigers should sign Dallas Keuchel and Craig Kimbrel ... so says their own manager, Ron Gardenhire, who tells TMZ Sports, "We could use them."

The two free agents have yet to sign with new teams despite being stars in the league ... and when we got Gardenhire out in NYC over the weekend, he says he wouldn't mind seeing them in Detroit jerseys.

Ron's right ... the Tigers COULD use those guys. Detroit is currently 19-32 and sitting in 4th place in the AL Central.

The problem for Ron? The two stud pitchers are expected to command a TON of money when they do eventually sign -- and that ain't exactly what Detroit's front office wants to do at this point.

As for if either of the free agents WILL have a team at some point this season ... Ron's confident even if it ain't his Tigers -- some MLB squad will "will step up."

Magic Johnson doesn't have a reputation as a "bully" in the Dodgers organization -- at least according to Justin Turner who tells TMZ Sports, "He's been great to me."

Johnson has been under fire over an ESPN report which dove into the dysfunction within the L.A. Lakers organization -- it painted Magic as a jerk who would often berate his staff.

One staffer told ESPN, "He used intimidation and bullying as a way of showing authority."

Since Magic is co-owner of the L.A. Dodgers -- we asked Turner if he's had any similar experiences with his boss.

"I love Magic," the Dodgers 3rd baseman said at Philippe's restaurant in L.A. ... "Been great to me."

Turner was doing a promotional event at Philippe's -- which is an L.A. institution because it was opened back in 1908 by Philippe Mathieu, the guy who claims he invented the French Dipped Sandwich!!!

Todd Gurley's knee is 100 percent FINE ... so says Eric Dickerson, who tells TMZ Sports he knows this because the Rams running back told him this himself!!!

"I talked to Todd," ED says ... "Todd's good."

Of course, NFL fans have been having a tough time believing that ... seeing as the league's best RB for the first half of last season was a non-factor in L.A.'s playoff run.

In fact, when we got Gurley leaving Craig's just last month ... he certainly didn't seem like a guy with two healthy knees ...

But, Dickerson says Gurley is adamant his legs are healthy, saying, "He said he's fine. He said he's fine."

Dickerson says there's no need for Rams fans to panic about Todd's health ... and tells us the only time anybody needs to worry about the RB is if he straight-up says he's injured.

"When he says, 'Look, I'm hurt.' That's when you worry."

10:12 AM PT -- Yo Gotti has weighed in on the situation, telling TMZ he has experienced similar discrimination at the Cosmopolitan, and other hotels in Vegas. He says, "It's a disgrace that these establishments continue to judge us by the color of our skin and our professions instead of recognizing our artistry and dedication to our communities."

Gotti states, "I stand with Meek Mill and all my peers in the hip-hop community that have been disrespected by places like the Cosmopolitan."

9:08 AM PT -- Meek's lawyer is doubling down, telling us he believes the Cosmo and other Vegas hotels are discriminating against black hip-hop artists and illegally circulating a banned list.

Tacopina says the properties are treating the rappers like dogs, and acting like it's the days of Tupac and Biggie all over again.

He adds that the video of Meek being denied and threatened is all the proof needed to show there's something seriously messed up going on in Sin City.

Meek Mill will file a lawsuit this week against the Cosmopolitan hotel in Vegas for ordering him to leave the grounds and threatening him with arrest, and his lawyer vows to destroy the hotel for its actions.

Meek's celeb lawyer, Joe Tacopina, tells TMZ, he will ask for "heavy monetary damages" for "lying and humiliating Meek," adding, "I'm going to take this place down because of what they did."

Tacopina claims there's a list of black rappers who are persona non grata at a group of Vegas hotels. Cosmo denies it excludes anyone because of race, but Tacopina tells us he's already identified 2 other rappers -- Yo Gotti and BlocBoy JB -- who claim other Vegas hotels have denied them because they're black rappers.

TMZ broke the story, Meek and his crew were going to see DJ Mustard Saturday at the Marquee Nightclub at the hotel but they were met by security as they pulled up and were ordered to leave, and if they got out of the car they'd be arrested for trespassing.

The hotel tells TMZ, they do not discriminate against anyone ... They wouldn't let Meek in because Marquee was at capacity and they had told him that before he left for the hotel. There are problems with the hotel's story. First, you hear a security guard in the video say they denied him because of a prior incident. Meek seemed baffled and repeatedly asked for specifics, but the hotel security guy wouldn't say.

There's also this ... Meek asked if he could go inside the hotel to get something to eat, but he was still denied. Presumably, the restaurants were not at capacity.

TMZ broke the story ... Tacopina fired off a letter to the Cosmo just after the incident demanding an apology and entrance to the club, but the hotel didn't respond. Tacopina says it's now game on.

Tacopina claims the Cosmo is scrambling now, coming up with 2 different versions of events, both of which he says are lies -- that Meek was involved in a prior incident, and he was denied because the club was at capacity.

Tacopina says, "Show us one other incident where a white individual was denied hotel club access or access to the grounds because Marquee was full?"

The lawsuit will allege racial discrimination under state and federal law as well as defamation.

The Spice Girls are still shaking off the rust -- their second tour stop was plagued with the same problem as the first ... and some concertgoers are demanding their money back.

Many fans who attended Spice World 2019's show at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff, Wales Monday night complained of poor sound quality throughout the performance, saying the music was hard to hear ... and so was the singing.

One fan claimed the Spice Girls' voices were drowned out the entire time by the band ... so you couldn't hear the harmonies or even make out the words.

Many unhappy fans took to Twitter to express their frustration over the sound issues -- one called the tour a complete disaster -- and even demanded a public apology and a refund.

The Cardiff show comes days after the group kicked off its reunion tour in Dublin Friday night ... which also had sound problems. Mel B promised it would be better for show #2 ... but apparently, she was wrong.

As with all things these days, though ... some fans completely disagree with the poor reviews and say the Girls' performance has been incredible.

Regardless ... there are still 11 shows left on the tour. Next stop -- Etihad Stadium in Manchester on Wednesday night. Say you'll be there?

The L.A. Lakers might as well start sellin' lip kits and flat tummy tea, 'cause Jay Williams says there's so much drama surrounding LeBron's team, he's dubbing them "the Kardashians of the NBA."

And, he ain't saying it as a compliment.

It's been a dumpster fire of an offseason for the Lakers ... with Magic Johnson going scorched earth on Rob Pelinka and accusing him of some old fashioned backstabbery. They fired Luke Walton and struggled to get a replacement coach.

And, of course, Lonzo Ball has Big Baller Brand drama.

Williams says things in LakerLand have gotten so bad, the team is starting to resemble the Kar-Jenners more than an NBA organization.

"I feel like we talk about everything but their on-court play ... that's kind of a signature of a lot of drama."

Williams says he still doesn't understand Magic's reasoning behind leaving the team ... and the very public breakup is gonna have players second-guessing whether they wanna be around that come free agency.

5:58 PM PT -- The photographer who shot Iggy for GQ Australia's cover that year says his photos were stolen from him and published without his permission.

He also mentions there's an investigation underway, and vows that the culprit will be prosecuted. The photog adds, "I empathize with any discomfort that this situation has caused to anyone that is involved." He didn't mention Iggy by name.

Iggy Azalea is equally pissed and hurt that someone betrayed her and leaked nude photos from a shoot she did for GQ years ago ... vowing to hold the guilty party responsible.

Topless photos of the Australian MC made their way around the Internet over the weekend, which prompted a flood of inappropriate comments aimed at her ... and, ultimately, it led to Iggy completely deactivating her social media accounts on IG and Twitter.

She later reactivated one of the accounts to issue a statement. It couldn't be more clear -- she's not happy about it, and she's gonna find out who screwed her over.

In her since-deleted remarks, Iggy says the photos were outtake shots from her 2016 GQ Australia cover shoot ... and that she was assured no fully topless photos of her would make the final cut. She says she also never gave permission for those pics to see the light of day.

Iggy goes on to write that there is no reason anyone who was working on the shoot that day should've saved the fully topless shots of herself, adding that she feels blindsided, embarrassed, violated and a whirlwind of other emotions over the invasion of privacy.

She ends with this ... "I fully intend on finding out where the leak originated from and pressing criminal charges in regards to this. It's important to me that someone actually be held accountable for their actions & the way it impacts my life."

We've reached out to GQ Australia for comment ... so far, no word back.

8:00 PM PT -- Meek's lawyer, Joe Tacopina, just told us, "The assertion that the Cosmopolitan denied Meek because of capacity concerns at Marquee Dayclub is outright false. In the recorded video, Meek also inquired about getting a meal at one of the hotel's restaurants, yet their security team continued to deny Meek and said he would be arrested for trespassing regardless of location in the premises. The Cosmopolitan's conduct continues to be deplorable."

Meek Mill was sent away from the Cosmopolitan hotel in Vegas not because he's a black rapper, but because the club he wanted to go to had reached capacity ... problem is, the story doesn't make sense.

TMZ broke the story ... Meek was ordered to leave the Cosmo on Saturday, and he was told by security if he got out of the car he'd be arrested for trespassing. Meek's lawyer, Joe Tacopina, said the hotel has a thing against black rappers.

Cosmo just told TMZ, they have a "zero tolerance for discrimination" and said this was not an issue of race. Cosmo says Meek was going to the Marquee Dayclub inside the hotel where DJ Mustard was performing. Cosmo says, "Marquee Dayclub had reached capacity per Las Vegas Fire Marshall code. Earlier that day, Las Vegas Metropolitan Police had been called onsite to manage a larger than usual venue crowd."

Cosmo goes on ... "Accordingly, when Marquee Dayclub was contacted in advance of Meek Mill's arrival, security staff clarified that he would not be granted access because of capacity issues, in accordance with both club and resort policy. Upon his arrival, it was reiterated to Meek Mill and his team for a second time that access to the venue was not permitted."

The Hotel says, "Meek Mill refused to depart property and was then informed that any continued attempt would result in trespassing." As we reported, they threatened to arrest Meek if he got out of the car.

Now, here's what doesn't make sense. First, check out the video TMZ posted Saturday, just after Meek left. You clearly hear a Cosmo security guard talking to Meek and his team and referencing a prior incident that happened in the lobby. Meek and his team repeatedly asked when the alleged incident occurred, but got no answer.

And, check out this video. Meek says he might just go inside to grab some grub, but that didn't fly with security and, presumably, the restaurants were not at capacity.

There were others who were trying to get in despite the capacity limit, and as far as we know they weren't greeted by security in the front of the hotel and ordered to leave before getting out of their cars.

Moby is ready to move on from his claim that he once dated, or tried dating, a young Natalie Portman ... 'cause he's got another hot topic up his sleeve: the planet.

The musician was questioned Monday by a pap in L.A. -- just a couple days after he publicly apologized for including Natalie in his new memoir. He drew a ton of backlash when she denied ever dating him in the '90s, despite his assertion they were kinda-almost a thing.

The pap gets to the meat of what many feel was left unanswered ... are the details of what he alleged true or not? Moby fully deflects ... switching gears to climate change.

In his mea culpa, Moby said ... "As some time has passed I've realized that many of the criticisms leveled at me regarding my inclusion of Natalie in Then It Fell Apart are very valid." He went on to say, "I also fully recognize that it was truly inconsiderate of me to not let her know about her inclusion in the book beforehand, and equally inconsiderate for me to not fully respect her reaction."

Worth noting ... Moby did NOT retract his characterization of their relationship -- which came off as romantic in his book. He paints it like they were circling a full-blown relationship ... saying they kissed a few times and slept in the same bed together once, until Natalie eventually told him she'd started seeing someone else.

Meanwhile, Natalie responded by saying the brief time she knew him wasn't anything close to dating. In fact, she labeled their dynamic at the time as "creepy." FWIW, she didn't specifically deny any of his details either ... other than to say she was 18 and not 20, as he recalled.

"Mr. Harris Goes to Washington" ain't a classic film but the purpose of T.I.'s trip to D.C. was classy ... to carry on the work of the late Nipsey Hussle.

We got T.I. on Capitol Hill where he attended a meeting with members of the Congressional Black Caucus as it tries to jumpstart incentive investment in low-income communities. It's a meeting Nipsey was scheduled to attend before he was gunned down in the neighborhood in which he himself heavily invested in ... Crenshaw.