Controversial S#!T

A former assistant coach for the USC Trojans football team is suing the school -- claiming he was fired and humiliated after reporting multiple violations to school officials ... and now he wants at least $2 MIL to make things right. 

The man behind the lawsuit is Rick Courtright -- who was hired as a senior defensive analyst in early 2016, after coaching at various levels (including the NFL) for nearly 33 years. 

During his time with USC, Courtright claims he witnessed some violations and felt obligated to report them to the USC compliance office so they could address the matter in-house. 

Among the allegations, Courtright claims he learned 2 USC graduate assistants working for the football were paying other students to take their classes for them -- with the blessing and funding coming from USC defensive coordinator Clancy Pendergast. 

In his lawsuit, Courtright says he also reported safety violations -- including an incident where 2 football players were injured in an unsupervised pre-game warmup, where they were not wearing proper protective gear. Courtright says the players suffered concussions as a result. 

After he blew the whistle, Courtright says people at USC retaliated against him -- from gluing his computer mouse to his desk ... to leaving nasty sticky notes at his work-station calling him a "d*ckhead" and an "a**hole."

He also claims various clothing items were stolen, people stopped talking to him and eventually USC head football coach Clay Helton placed him on administrative leave before forcing him to resign in May 2018. 

Courtright adamantly believes the treatment was a direct result of his whistleblowing -- and he's demanding more than $2 MILLION. 

We reached out to USC -- so far, no official comment. 

Rick Springfield is not taking any chances -- he's calling off his music festival in the Dominican Republic as the number of American tourists getting sick and dying in the country continues to grow.

The "Jessie's Girl" singer just made the announcement, saying ... "In an abundance of caution and for the peace of mind and well-being of my fans, band and crew, the ‘Rick Springfield & Friends’ event in Punta Cana is being rescheduled to take place at Hard Rock Hotel Cancun in 2020."

Rick says the new dates will be determined asap, but attempts to reschedule in 2019 were unsuccessful.

The musician has held these "Rick Springfield & Friends" fests for close to a decade, which started as concert cruises before moving them to land and resorts. This was going to be the first in the D.R.

Along with Springfield, the festival lineup was set to include Patty Smyth, host Mark Goodman, actor Doug Davidson and musical guest Guns & Mullets.

Springfield adds that the decision to postpone was not easy, but the "safety and well-being of our amazing fans, band and crew will always be the most important consideration in any situation."

Lil Nas X -- who has skyrocketed to fame this year -- just surprised a ton of fans by seemingly coming out as gay.

Nas made the not-so-subtle announcement Sunday ... saying, "some of y’all already know, some of y’all don’t care, some of y’all not gone fwm no more. but before this month ends i want y’all to listen closely to c7osure."

The rapper then spent the next few hours replying to and retweeting fans who responded to his post. At one point, he shared a photo of the cover of his EP, "7," which shows Nas on a horse and looking at a city skyline in the distance.

Nas posted the pic with the caption, "deadass thought I made it obvious" with a zoom-in on one of the buildings that features a rainbow pattern.

He's still on crutches, but NBA star Pau Gasol is already thinking about a healthy new contract -- telling TMZ Sports resigning with the Milwaukee Bucks seems to "make sense."

The 38-year-old is still recovering from surgery to repair a stress fracture in his left foot from an injury back in May -- but when we saw him out in NYC this weekend, he was out and "feeling better."

But, the big question ... where will Gasol play next season? 

Remember, Gasol signed with the Bucks in March after being released from the San Antonio Spurs -- but only played in a couple of games before the injury forced him to miss the rest of the season. 

Gasol has previously said he thinks Milwaukee -- with Giannis Antetokounmpo -- has a real shot at winning a championship ... and it's clear he still feels that way. 

"I think it would make sense," Gasol told us when we asked about going back to the Bucks ... "I want to help a team win a championship."

Wag! dog walking app promises to put your pets in the hands of the best walkers, but comes up way short and then dangles Olivia Munn as a shiny object to quiet upset owners ... according to a new lawsuit.

Dog lovers probably already know, but for the rest of you ... Wag! is an app that hooks up dog owners with nearby dog walkers -- strictly for walking pets. It ain't Tinder. 

The problem in the eyes of one user, Barbara Meli, is the app is hiring untrustworthy people to walk your dogs -- and some pet owners are paying the ultimate price. 

In the suit, Meli says she got suspicious after attempting to hire a walker through the app -- there was very little info about the suggested walker -- so she hired an attorney to launch an investigation. She claims they discovered Wag! walkers lost at least 11 dogs from 2015 to 2018, and several more just last month.

She says the recent case of a dog named Benny in NYC is a prime example. After Benny went missing ... Wag! sent Olivia Munn to meet Benny's owners and to minimize the bad press. Later that week, Benny was found at a Wag! walker's home.

According to the suit, Wag! claims to use a "robust vetting process that includes application and verification process, a third party background check, an online test covering dog safety." They claim only 10 percent of applicants make it through the rigorous checks.

Steve Wozniak has a warning for anyone who uses social media ... the platforms are eavesdropping on your private conversations, and sending that precious data to advertisers.

We got Steve at Reagan National Airport in D.C. Friday and just had to ask him if he's worried about Facebook, Instagram and others infringing on his privacy ... the Woz says he's terrified, and you should be too!!!

Steve knows what he's talking about ... the dude co-founded Apple, and he's very much plugged into Silicon Valley and all aspects of tech. 

The paranoia surrounding social media spying is top of mind right now after Gayle King called BS on Instagram chief Adam Mosseri's assertion the platform does NOT listen in on your private convos. 

Woz says he ain't buying the company line, either ... and he explains why anything you say in the presence of your electronics is readily made available to all sorts of entities. 

Nancy Grace thinks O.J. Simpson's apparent attempt to become a pro fantasy football analyst is disgusting -- because throat-slitting maniacs like him don't deserve a second chance. 

With O.J. posting fantasy football advice on Twitter, the guys on "TMZ Live" asked Grace if she thinks he has a real chance at getting an endorsement deal.

"I think it's absolutely a possibility," Grace said ... "I guarantee people will tune in to see O.J. Simpson out of prurient interest knowing that he beat [Nicole Brown] black and blue. Knowing that he sliced her neck so severely, her head was hanging on by the skin, by the back of her spine."

Nancy, whose new show "Injustice with Nancy Grace" debuts July 13 on Oxygen, added this about O.J. possibly getting on the air -- "Yeah, people will tune in and watch that ... [but] it will not be me!"

For his part, Simpson has been getting killed on social media for his fantasy football post ... with people taking ferocious shots at the ex-NFL star -- and there ain't signs of it slowing down. 

@CenterStageDS -- "Baker Mayfield might be risky, but it wouldn’t be the first time you took a stab at a Brown."

@jamfan40 -- "What about Joe Flacco?  Thought you were a fan of white Broncos?"

Big statement from Megan Rapinoe ... who just let her FEET do the talking after criticism from Donald Trump -- scoring a goal in the first 5 minutes of Team USA's big game against France. 

Remember, Trump told Rapinoe to focus on winning rather than criticizing the President -- after Rapinoe was quoted saying she would not go to the "f*cking White House" if Team USA wins the World Cup. 

Fast Forward to Friday's game against France ... where Rapinoe hit a brilliant goal during a free kick from outside the box (and deep in traffic) to take a 1-0 lead over France. 

Rapinoe has scored the last 3 goals for the U.S. in the World Cup tournament. She has 48 goals in international play. 

#Beast!

Story developing ...

Biz Markie says he's 100% on board with 50 Cent shaming people into paying their debts ... now here's hoping Fiddy's cool with food stamps as valid currency to pay off the debt.

We got the "Just a Friend" rapper Thursday in D.C. at Reagan National Airport and, of course, had to ask him what was up with paying 50 with food stamps. ICYMI ... Biz and 50 hung out at a festival earlier this month in Minneapolis and, while backstage, Markie finally ante'd up what he owed. The look on Fiddy's face says it all.

Check out the clip ... Biz tells us exactly why he owed the "In Da Club" rapper money. BTW ... 50 putting people on blast for owing him money is entirely cool with him. It's unclear if Biz really did pay off his debt with food stamps. We really can't tell if Biz is joking or not. 50 took to Instagram and seemed to laugh off the whole thing ... so, who knows.

Madonna's music video portraying a mass shooting at a nightclub contains a strong and necessary message, but the way she delivered it is totally out of touch ... according to a Pulse survivor.

Brandon Wolf tells TMZ ... he appreciates what Madonna tried to do in her graphic new vid for "God Control" -- and even thinks more artists should follow her lead -- but he's got serious issues with the choices she made and the timing of the release.

His main problem -- he says Madonna didn't reach out to any of the Pulse nightclub shooting victims, survivors or their families for input or to see how her new video might affect them. Although it's evident her vid is referencing the 2016 mass shooting, Brandon points out she never acknowledges it or pays tribute to the 49 people who were killed.

Wolf also accuses the singer of being self-absorbed and using Pulse as a prop, and says it's not the first time she's done so. He points to the tweet she shared right after the shooting, which also didn't directly mention the incident ... but did include her famous pic kissing Britney Spears.

Brandon also wonders what took Madonna so long to speak out about the Pulse incident, considering it happened over 3 years ago. He does hope she's genuinely woke about the gun control issue -- as her lyrics say -- but he's having a hard time completely buying it. 

Team USA soccer star Megan Rapinoe is getting major support in the locker room after going after President Trump ... with her coach, Jill Ellis, saying the entire team has Megan's back. 

Of course, Trump tweeted about Rapinoe on Wednesday ... lashing back at Megan after the co-captain said there's no way she would go to the "f*cking White House" if USA wins the World Cup. 

Trump told Rapinoe he'd extend an invite anyway -- and advised her to focus on winning before trashing him in public. 

Rapinoe and Ellis addressed the media on Thursday ... where Rapinoe dug in on her anti-Trump stand -- saying, "I stand by the comments that I made about not wanting to go to the White House, with the exception of the expletive"

"My mom will be very upset about that."

When asked if Rapinoe's comments have been a distraction to the team, Ellis shot that down -- and said, "We all support Megan, she knows that."

Ellis added, "We know we have each other's backs in there. I think for our players, there is only one purpose, one mission that we're here. Comments, media, whatever, it's always been something that I think we can block out pretty easily."

Rapinoe's teammate, Ali Krieger, backed up Megan on social media -- saying she'll "sit this one out as well. I don’t support this administration nor their fight against LGBTQ+ citizens, immigrants & our most vulnerable."

Jenelle Evans and David Eason are under the same roof as their kids again -- but just for a visit, and WITH a court-ordered monitor watching like a hawk.

Jenelle and David showed up to court again Thursday in Whiteville, North Carolina to enjoy a reunion with 9-year-old Jace, 2-year-old Ensley and David's 11-year-old daughter, Maryssa, from a previous relationship.

Jenelle's mom, Barbara, arrived with the kids -- separately from David and Jenelle -- and headed inside the courthouse moments before their parents. We know what you're thinking ... where's Kaiser? He showed up later, and so did his dad, Nathan Griffith.

This is the first time Jenelle and David have seen their kids since Barbara brought them back on June 4. For those counting, that's 23 days. 

You'll recall that last time was none too pleasant for Jenelle and Barbara ... who got into a nasty little exchange in front of our camera guy. Accusations were made from both sides but it seems they've let bygones be bygones ... for now. The reunion comes on the heels of Tuesday's hearing.

As you know ... all of Jenelle's kids were removed after a judge decided there were serious issues -- not the least of which being David killing the family dog -- that put the kids at risk. 

Jenelle and David have been working with the judge to regain custody.

Presidential candidate Julian Castro says he knows a bunch of U.S. pro athletes HATE going to The White House now that Donald Trump's in charge ... and says he plans on changing that, if he gets elected. 

Fresh off his widely-praised performance at the Democratic debates, Castro told he didn't sleep last night ... and was still replying to all the texts he got!

But, when we started talking sports -- in the wake of Trump's new beef with Team USA soccer star Megan Rapinoe -- Castro mustered up the energy to take another shot at POTUS. 

"I'm very confident that whomever the next President ... and I hope to be the next president ... you're gonna see a lot more sports teams eager to go to The White House unlike we've seen in the last couple of years," Castro said. 

Of course, Rapinoe recently said she's "not going to the f*cking White House" if Team USA wins the World Cup ... following the lead of the Golden State Warriors, who also boycotted Trump. 

Several members of the Boston Red Sox also declined The White House's invite after winning the World Series. 

Castro says he remembers back when he was with the Obama administration, NBA teams and players LOVED visiting The White House ... and he wants to bring that spirit back. 

Kim Kardashian West has no plans to produce traditional Japanese Kimono garments -- and certainly hasn't put a lock on the product name, which has been used in business for years.

Kardashian launched her Kimono shapewear line earlier this week ... a collection Kim created to include women of all shapes, sizes and skin complexions. The brand came under heavy fire from those saying Kim was inappropriate in using the Kimono name ... a type of Japanese garment.

We did some digging and discovered Kim isn't the only one to use the garment name in business -- there's Komono Sunglasses, Kimono Lash, Kimono Restaurant and Kimono Condoms -- just to name a few.

Our sources say Kim has no intentions of ever producing the Japanese garment, and her trademark of the Kimono name only applies to her business ... as is standard practice. She's also trademarked Kimoji, KKW Beauty and KKW Fragrance in the past ... all brands incorporate her first name to some degree.

3:07 PM PT -- Patience Carter -- who survived the Pulse Nightclub shooting -- tells us the video was traumatic to watch and was grossly accurate to what she experienced. Carter says the mild disclaimer at the beginning of the video should have been more severe as the music video could put survivors back into a dark place.

Madonna's new music video is a shocking and graphic recreation of a mass shooting scene ... that seems to emulate the horrific Pulse Nightclub murders.

Madonna dropped the video Wednesday for her politically-charged track, "God Control" -- a play on gun control -- and it shows 32 incredibly disturbing seconds of people being gunned down in a nightclub.

Warning ... the bloody scenes of bodies falling to the ground will be difficult for many people to watch. If Madonna's goal was draw visceral reactions ... it's a guarantee she'll get 'em.

In the music video ... the shooting violence starts at 2 minutes, 38 seconds when you see the shooter hold a gun up to his mouth and seemingly pull the trigger -- but the scene flashes to the guy opening fire on a bunch of people who are dancing in the club.

Madonna told People that her video is meant to be a commentary on the epidemic of mass shootings in the U.S., which she says is "out of control."

She included a disclaimer at the beginning that reads, "The story you’re about to see is very disturbing. But it’s happening everywhere and it has to stop."

Gayle Benson says she has no plans to change her title as "owner" of the New Orleans Saints and the NO Pelicans ... but insists she's sensitive to the concerns of the players.

Gayle's late husband, Tom Benson, bought the Saints in 1985 and the Pelicans in 2012 -- and she took over when he passed away in March 2018.

As we previously reported, several NBA teams and the NBA league office are moving away from the term "owner" out of racial sensitivity ... so the New Orleans Advocate asked Benson if she plans on following suit.

Benson told the Advocate she has no plans on making a title change -- though she considers herself "less of an owner and more of a caretaker of incredible assets."

She also issued a statement saying she hopes players aren't offended by the "owner" title -- and she's open to listening to their concerns.

"As with any word, phrase or expression ... interpretations can be perceived differently," Benson said.

"That is in many ways why diversity, inclusion and openness is so important to companies and society. As with any expression, my intention and the intentions of the organization I am responsible for is never to be insensitive or insulting."

She continued ... "I truly believe daily actions speak very loudly, and it is my sincere hope that the players and staff know how much I care for them and their families."

"I sincerely hope no term that attempts to define my corporate standing would in any negative way suggest a lack of caring, respect or admiration for that they accomplish every day -- leaders, teammates, colleagues, parents, mentors, citizens."

Benson seems to be echoing comments made by Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban who told us corporate leaders should be able to choose their own titles.

Meanwhile, the issue has already spilled over into pop culture ... where Common explained why the move away from the term "owner" is a positive thing.

There are also staunch critics ... including Bill O'Reilly and Donald Trump who don't seem to be on board with the title change.