Controversial S#!T

Kevin Spacey's sexual assault accuser was texting his girlfriend during their alleged encounter at a Nantucket bar ... and in the texts, he claimed Spacey was getting him drunk and grabbing his genitals.

A string of text messages between the accuser and his girlfriend are included in a new court filing -- obtained by TMZ -- in the criminal sexual assault case against Spacey -- and they're pretty disturbing. According to the docs, the texts are from screenshots taken by the accuser and provided to investigators.

The alleged victim texted his girlfriend ... Spacey, "grabbed my dick like 8 times", "pulled my zipper down", and "reached down my pants." The man ends the convo by writing, "Kevin Spacey is gay."

Spacey's lawyers say the texts appear to pick up mid-conversation, beginning with the man telling his then-GF, Spacey's, "hanging around me in the bar. He got my number and asked me to come out with him." The girlfriend replies, "Sounds like he's hitting on you."

Spacey's team thinks the texts don't tell the full story, because most of them lack time stamps ... and it's possible the accuser deleted other texts that could change the context.

The man also allegedly sent group texts to his friends, writing, "I'm serious. One sec. I'm calling my mom. I'm serious. I'm dead serious. I swear on everyone ... I'm drunk but I'm not f***ing around."

Matt Lauer did not have a single special moment on "Today" during his 20-year run as cohost of the show ... at least according to the producers of an anniversary montage.

NBC released a highlight video Thursday in honor of its morning program celebrating 25 years in the famed indoor/outdoor Studio 1A ... but Lauer's nowhere to be seen.

Check it out ... the 5 and half minute vid opens with Savannah Guthrie talking about the big move to 1A in 1994, and features clips and interviews with several other "Today" stars like Al Roker, Hoda Kotb, Lester Holt, Craig Melvin, Jenna Bush, Carson Daly and of course Katie Couric and Bryant Gumbel.

The montage leaves out Lauer, though, who took over for Gumbel back in 1997 and remained there until November 2017 ... when he was fired by NBC for sexual misconduct.

As you know, Lauer's accused of sexually harassing multiple female NBC staffers during his time with the network, along with specific allegations of exposing himself, giving sex toys as gifts, and having a button under his desk to lock the door without getting up.

The scandal is still clearly on the minds of "Today" honchos who decided to keep him out of the "special" tribute. Interestingly, Ann Curry -- who had issues with Lauer and claims she told NBC brass he was a problem back in 2012 -- was also left out of the montage.

The man they call the "Serbian Michael Jordan" has essentially been BLOCKED by the International Basketball Federation from playing the BIG3 -- and Ice Cube is FURIOUS!

In fact, Cube is calling officials "chicken sh*t" for standing in the way of the player's American dream.

The man at the center of the controversy is Dusan Bulut -- AKA Mr. Bullutproof -- the top-ranked 3-on-3 basketball player in the world. He's an absolute stud. He's even got his own signature move, the Shammgod Nutmeg.

Bulut is from Serbia -- but he's currently under contract with a team in Abu Dhabi in a league that's overseen by the International Basketball Federation (FIBA).

Despite the fact Bulut WANTS to play in the BIG3 -- and was DRAFTED this year -- FIBA officials told him if he breaks his contract with the Abu Dhabi team, he'll face a 24-month ban from international competition, which would prevent him from competing for Serbia in the 2020 Olympics.

Earlier today, Bulut withdrew from the BIG3 because of the threat -- and Ice Cube ain't happy about it.

"We want him to play, but FIBA is threatening that he won't be able to be eligible for the Olympics," Cube told us ... "I think they're scared."

Cube says the league is considering its legal options -- but notes, "We want to do whatever Bulut wants to do. We want to get him in the BIG3, but we don't want to mess up his chances to be in the Olympics."

He summed it up this way ... "I think FIBA is being chicken sh*t."

Meanwhile, Cube and the BIG3 are pushing forward with the 2019 season, which kicks off June 22 at the Little Caesar's Arena in Detroit, live on CBS.

Mod Sun's been feeling uneasy ever since Bella Thorne got hacked because he thinks he might be next in line to have racy pics revealed ... and says Whoopi Goldberg was right to criticize his ex-GF.

We got Bella's ex heading into the Roxy late Wednesday night in WeHo ... his takeaway from the situation -- Thorne releasing topless photos on Twitter to beat a hacker to the punch -- is that it sucks, and it's got him worried.

Maybe not too much -- Mod boldly says he feels pretty good about his nudes -- but it's easy to see he doesn't want them to get out, and says he definitely wouldn't have handled things like Bella did.

As we reported ... the actress says she posted the pics to take back the power from her hacker, who she says was trying to extort her. Whoopi more or less shamed Bella on "The View" for taking nude photos in this day and age ... and Thorne fired back in a series of emotional posts, blasting Goldberg for causing her more pain and anguish.

Mod seems to side with Whoopi, though and says he won't be sending out crazy pics anymore.

President Trump isn't even trying to hide his racist language based on his staunch refusal to apologize to the Central Park Five ... at least that's how Congressman Gregory Meeks sees it.

We got the distinguished gentleman from New York near Capitol Hill and he went OFF about Trump saying earlier this week there are "two sides" to the story of the wrongly convicted boys in the Central Park 5 case.

Meeks recalls Trump using the same rhetoric in response to questions about the white supremacists in Charlottesville -- but says this time is worse ... because DNA evidence is PROOF there's only one correct side to the CP5 story.

The NY Rep. is also refusing to give the Prez any credit for signing prison reform measures like the First Step Act. He says the real credit for that progress should go to Jared Kushner ... whose father spent 14 months in federal prison.

'Real Housewives' fans chewed out Kandi Burruss' husband for bringing his adult daughter to a strip club to celebrate her birthday, but hear him out ... he has an interesting defense.

'RHOA' star Todd Tucker says he has ZERO regrets about taking 23-year-old Kaela to see some T&A up close for her big day -- despite the fact he was getting dragged over it on social media after posting a video of the, umm ... unique father-daughter outing.

Don't worry ... ya don't see anything too raunchy here, and it looks like his kid isn't even looking at the dancer's booty in this shot. Still, it caused quite a fuss in the Insta-verse.

We asked Todd why he thinks it was appropriate to bring his daughter to such a sexually-charged environment and he tells us quite simply ... it makes for great bonding.

Check out his answer ... Todd says more parents should follow his lead, and if they did, they'd have better relationships with their kids. The way he sees it, smacking "a couple of booties" with your kid could be the best way to maintain close ties, especially as they get older.

Todd also says this kinda family outing is in his genes!!! Really. You gotta hear what his mom did for him.

Sean McVay, listen up ... a 325-pound beast says he wants to help the Rams win a championship -- 'cause Domata Peko tells TMZ Sports he wants to sign with L.A.!!!

"I would like to be with Aaron Donald, man," Peko says ... "Hell yeah! That would be dope."

34-year-old Peko shot down retirement rumors with our camera guy out in Bev Hills on Tuesday ... and says he's definitely trying to play a 14th season in the NFL.

Domata tells us he just had a visit with the Detroit Lions last week ... but the team he'd really like to sign with is McVay's.

"Coach McVay! Your boy, Domata Peko, here, ready to go. I would love to come out here, represent L.A. and try to pursue that championship!"

We also asked Peko how his ex-teammate, Vontaze Burfict, would handle being on the same Oakland squad with longtime rival Antonio Brown this year, and Peko says he doesn't predict any problems between the two.

Capitol Hill is buzzing -- almost literally -- for the first Congressional hearing on slavery reparations in a decade ... because a huge crowd is waiting to see Danny Glover and Sen. Cory Booker testify.

The loud scene unfolded Wednesday morning in the halls of Congress, where a seemingly endless throng assembled to show support for an issue that's gained a huge amount of traction this year.

Ya gotta see the video ... wannabe spectators packed into a tiny hallway outside the hearing -- an obvious illustration of just how monumental the hearing is for millions of Americans.

Booker, one of several Democratic presidential hopefuls expressing support for some form of reparations, testified before the House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Civil Liberties ... and Glover was among the other speakers.

H.R. 40 calls for a commission to study and develop reparation proposals for African-Americans, plus a formal apology from the U.S. government for human rights violations and "crimes against humanity on African slaves and their descendants."

L.A. Lakers forward Moe Wagner says he didn't intentionally "like" a pro-George Zimmerman tweet earlier this week ... and now he's apologizing to "anyone I hurt."

The 22-year-old German-born NBA player came under fire when people noticed he "liked" a tweet that essentially justified Zimmerman's 2012 killing of Trayvon Martin.

The tweet also said, "The black community [Zimmerman] had volunteered his time to help prior to the incident tried to ruin him."

Yeah, it's bad.

Zimmerman was found not guilty of 2nd-degree murder and manslaughter in the Martin case -- but most people still believe the guy is a scumbag.

In fact, Wagner's Lakers teammate, LeBron James, was one of the most vocal critics of Zimmerman during the hearing.

But, Wagner -- L.A.'s 1st-round pick in 2018 -- is now making it clear he is NOT a Zimmerman supporter -- and says the "like" was a genuine mistake.

"I’d like to apologize and say I genuinely have no idea how that tweet was liked from my account," Wagner tweeted.

"I would never purposely like something so terrible, and I’m sorry to anyone I hurt."

R. Kelly once again wiped the slate clean when it comes to back child support ... 'cause he's all paid up until the next round ... according to his attorney.

Steven Greenberg says his client forked over the delinquent $32k in child support and interest that ex-wife Drea Kelly was demanding. Greenberg tells us the cash covers everything owed up to this point, and R. Kelly "doesn't owe one more single solitary cent" ... at least 'til next month's $21k child support payment is due.

As for how exactly R. Kelly's coming up with this kind of dough right when he needs it -- when just a few months ago it seemed he was struggling -- Greenberg tells us he assumes the singer's rolling in the royalties, although he notes he's not certain about that.

We know R. Kelly's been working some gigs here and there for income, but it doesn't seem he's been hitting the road much since his paid appearance in April. His crisis manager, Darrell Johnson, says they're working to secure more work in the near future.

The royalties thing could make sense -- R. Kelly's music streams have seen a spike since he's been corralled back into the spotlight. Presumably, those are paying off for him now.

Either way, Greenberg tells us that there shouldn't be any more significant issues with R. Kelly's child support payments going forward. He says he can't guarantee they'll always be made right on the dot, but they'll get to Drea without major hiccups as his criminal case proceeds.

Cuba Gooding Jr. and his accuser were nearly face-to-face one full hour AFTER he allegedly groped her breast in the NYC bar ... and she appears to be trying to interact with the actor. The question is ... why?

We've combed through well over an hour of the surveillance footage we obtained, and it shows one final encounter between the accuser and Gooding. Based on the video's time stamp ... at 11:19 PM on June 9 ... Cuba, his GF, Claudine De Niro, and the accuser all walked into the rooftop deck area of Magic Hour Rooftop Lounge.

The interaction is interesting ... Claudine walks in first and goes to talk to some friends. A mere TWO seconds later, the accuser walks in right behind Claudine ... and just THREE seconds later, Cuba walks into frame, accompanied by a security guard.

Gooding walks in the opposite direction of his GF, and walks right past the accuser. He's within a couple feet of her when a bar host starts walking and talking with him. The accuser attempts to walk right behind them, but is intercepted by the security guard, who gestures for her to walk in the opposite direction.

What's unclear is if she is trying to confront the Oscar winner about the alleged groping, or if she's trying to hang out with him.

Remember, this is 64 minutes after the accuser's first contact with Cuba ... when he clearly, and admittedly, touched her thigh. Right after that, she claims he touched her breast without consent. Gooding says he only reached for her hand to kiss it.

Back to 11:19 PM ... Claudine eventually followed Cuba and walked to the far end of the bar, off-camera with him, the host and the security guard. We know police arrived shortly thereafter. It's unclear exactly when the accuser called police -- whether it was before or after this 11:19 PM interaction.

Worth noting that at no point on the surveillance video we've obtained do you see an angry interaction between the accuser and Gooding that required security to step between them -- as was initially reported.

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has a simple message to anyone who thinks she crossed a line by calling southern border detention centers concentration camps -- Merriam-Webster's got my back.

AOC kicked up a firestorm Tuesday when she said, "The United States is running concentration camps on our southern border" ... while discussing the controversial detention centers for illegal immigrants. She'd heard the backlash all day -- from people like Liz Cheney -- by the time we spoke to AOC Tuesday night as she was leaving Capitol Hill.

The freshman Congresswoman was undeterred and fired back at Mrs. Cheney, in particular. She went on to defend her words ... saying, "The academic definition is targeting a community and putting them in detention camps without a trial and that's what the government is doing."

That definition isn't quelling the controversy. Even House Speaker Nancy Pelosi fielded questions about it Wednesday morning, and cautioned AOC and all Democrats to beware of enemies trying to exploit their words.

Of course, the criticism of AOC's remark is that it was incredibly insensitive, and dismissive of the fact 6 million Jewish people were killed in concentration camps.

Bella Thorne is firing back at Whoopi Goldberg after she seemingly shamed Bella for having nude photos on her phone, on the cloud, or anywhere.

In a series of super emotional posts Tuesday, Bella tearfully blasted Whoopi ... who took the stance on "The View" that celebs who take nude photos are just asking for trouble with hackers and, essentially, said they should know better.

Bella said Whoopi's comment only inflames a painful situation. She also suggested Whoopi's lack of sympathy toward young people who get exposed this way is part of the reason people commit suicide after their nudes are leaked.

In case you missed it ... Bella's Twitter was hacked last week, and over the weekend she posted a series of topless photos in order to beat her alleged hacker to the punch. She says the person was attempting to extort her with the racy pics.

Whoopi, Meghan McCain, Sunny Hostin and Joy Behar debated the issue in Monday's episode of "The View" ... and their convo clearly triggered Bella.

Adam Silver is vouching for Toronto Raptors President Masai Ujiri -- saying the guy is a good dude ... but the NBA commish tells TMZ Sports he's still investigating Ujiri like he would anyone else.

Of course, Ujiri is facing some stiff allegations after shoving a cop after Game 6 of the NBA Finals ... with the officer's attorney saying his client suffered a concussion and a jaw injury in the altercation.

In fact, the Alameda County Sheriff's Office says it's pursuing a criminal misdemeanor battery charge against Ujiri ... saying it's set to meet with prosecutors this week.

When we got Silver out in NYC on Tuesday ... he told us he's known Ujiri for years -- but has still launched a full investigation into the allegations nonetheless.

"I've known Masai Ujiri for a long time," Silver says ... "I know he's a very decent person. But, at the same time, we of course respect law enforcement that does a great job protecting our fans in the arena."

"So, there's been an allegation here, so it's our job to look into the facts and make sure that everything's handled appropriately."

The cop who was shoved by Toronto Raptors President Masai Ujiri during a fight after Game 6 of the NBA Finals is blasting racism claims ... with his attorney telling TMZ Sports, "The injured officer's family is African American."

After it was revealed Ujiri and a white cop got into a pushing altercation last Thursday after the Raptors beat the Warriors at Oracle Arena ... some had suggested the incident was rooted in racism.

But, the cop's attorney, David Mastagni, says that's just not the case at all, telling us, "Insult to this injury is invoking race because the injured officer's family is African American."

"This case is credential vs. no credential. The issue is not race."

As we previously reported, Mastagni says his client -- who has yet to be publicly identified -- suffered both a "serious concussion" and a significant jaw injury after Ujiri shoved him.

Mastagni says the cop has NOT been able to return to work since the altercation, which Mastagni says was an "unprovoked" attack.

Mastagni also says they are still considering a lawsuit against the Raptors president.

Ujiri is also facing a criminal investigation ... with the Alameda County Sheriff's Office saying it will meet with prosecutors later this week to pursue a misdemeanor battery charge.

It ain't just the NFL asking bizarre, silly questions to potential draft picks -- NBA teams are hitting prospects with some crazy brainteasers too ... so says projected lottery pick Nassir Little!!

Little was a STUD at the University of North Carolina -- and has been meeting with teams ahead of Thursday's big draft night.

And, when we saw the 19-year-old out in D.C., we asked if he'd reveal the most interesting pre-draft question he got.

So, if you're ready to play ... HERE'S THE QUESTION!!!

You're locked inside of a car with only a hammer to aid you ... how do you get out of the car?!?!

Ya gotta watch the clip and see how Little answered the question -- it's probably the same answer YOU would give.

But, you're wrong ... and so was Little -- and the correct answer is probably gonna make you LOL.

Little definitely had a sense of humor about the situation -- couldn't have been nicer to us ... and told us all about what he plans on buying once he signs that first NBA contract.