Controversial S#!T

Kim Kardashian West says she is shocked and saddened by recent allegations against Marcus Hyde by models claiming the photographer tried to bribe them for nude photos.

Hyde -- who was a longtime photographer for Kim and Kanye -- has come under fire by numerous women this week. In one alleged DM conversation between Hyde and a model, he asked her for nude photos, saying he'd do a shoot with her for free if she sent. When the model refused, Hyde allegedly said the charge would be $2,000 for the shoot.

Kim said of the situation, "My own experiences have always been professional, and I am deeply shocked, saddened and disappointed to learn that other women have had very different experiences. I stand in full support of every woman's right to not be harassed, asked or pressured to do anything they are not comfortable with."

Kim ends her statement with, "We cannot allow this type of behavior to go unnoticed and I applaud those who speak out."

Hyde almost lost his life in a car accident in October of last year when his Mercedes went 200 feet off an embankment. The accident left him in a coma for weeks ... and he was seen at Kanye's Sunday Service performance at Coachella for the first time since the accident.

Aretha Franklin's son says the rep who controls his mother's estate is on a spending spree -- with the singer's fortune -- and he wants a judge to put a stop to it ... stat.

Aretha's son, Kecalf Franklin, wants a judge to grant a temporary restraining order against the estate's rep, Sabrina Owens ... barring her from making any decisions on behalf of the estate until the court decides whether Owens -- who is also Aretha's niece -- should even have that authority.

Kecalf claims Sabrina has sold property, personal items and spent money to advertise the items for sale. Kecalf also says Sabrina transferred a car to her name and received money on behalf of the estate ... though he doesn't name a specific amount.

It was first believed Aretha died without a will in 2018 but Owens found 3 wills in Aretha's home. Now, according to the docs -- obtained by TMZ -- the family wants the court to decide which will is valid.

Wesley Snipes says there's absolutely no bad blood over losing his famous "Blade" role to Mahershala Ali ... it's just show business, baby!

Snipes admits the news -- which was just announced at Comic-Con last weekend as part of the next phase of the Marvel Cinematic Universe -- came as a surprise ... but "it's ALL GOOD."

Snipes says ... "To all the DAYWALKERS losing their minds right now, Chillaaxx ... Such is the ‘business’ of ‘entertainment!’ Much peace to the MCU crew - always a fan."

Wesley also gives a shoutout to the late Stan Lee, saying "honor and respect to the grandmaster Stan."

As for Mahershala, Snipes congratulates him and calls him "a beautiful and talented artist whose expressions I look forward to experiencing for many years to come." He adds that he hopes to work with him some day.

The news came as a shock for some loyal "Blade" fans, who are upset about Wesley getting the snub, but he doesn't want them to fret. Snipes thanks them for their "incredible outpouring of love" but adds "‘nah fret nah worry, it’s not de end of de story.’"

Slim Jxmmi is fully supporting a rap industry boycott of Sweden ... and he says it's all because of the country's awful treatment of A$AP Rocky.

The Rae Sremmurd rapper is calling for all rap artists to stop touring in Sweden, and it sounds like the boycott could be indefinite ... because Jxmmi says no one should perform there until A$AP is released from jail and gives his blessing.

Slim has performed in Sweden in the past, but he says that's all over now ... he promises he won't return to the European nation until they change their laws and right their wrongs with A$AP.

As for the dangers posed by touring overseas ... Slim says it's real tricky, claiming he was almost detained once for smoking weed at a festival. His story sounds a little like the one Quavo shared with us last week, when he told our photog he was almost arrested in Sweden.

As we first reported ... A$AP's mom thinks Sweden is trying to make an example of her son -- who is has been in jail for weeks without being charged with a crime -- and she says there's a good chance race is factor.

A$AP Rocky's mom believes the country of Sweden is trying to make an example of her son ... and there's very a good chance it's only because of the color of his skin.

Renee Black says she's run out of ideas to help get her son out of jail ... thinking President Trump's involvement would have been enough of a push to free Rocky. Renee has only spoken to Rocky one time since he was locked up earlier this month, but says he sounded strong.

While Renee tells our camera guy she doesn't want to pull the race card, it's hard for her to ignore the signs ... saying, "if it walks like a duck and it quacks like a duck, then it's a duck."

Swedish prosecutors have maintained the only reason they're holding A$AP is because they consider him a flight risk ... and have until Thursday to decide whether or not to charge him with assault.

It was early July when Rocky and members of his team were seen on video beating a man in Stockholm after the man allegedly followed and harassed them for a long period of time.

A$AP Rocky is getting a groundswell of support from fans on the ground in Sweden ... posters calling for his release are popping up all over Stockholm, and people are snapping pics to bring attention to his plight.

Smash Fest, the music festival A$AP performed at days before he turned himself into police in Stockholm, has started a #JusticeForRocky campaign in the country's capital ... and festival honchos tell us they've printed out and put up thousands of posters that read, "FREE A$AP ROCKY ASAP."

We're told Smash Fest created the signage to show support for A$AP and urge Swedish authorities to release him ... and people have been showing their support for the Harlem rapper by taking pics with the posters and posting them all over social media.

It's interesting ... we're told many of the posters were taken down soon after going up, but Smash Fest printed new ones and replaced them almost immediately.

One A$AP supporter in Stockholm tells us he's been walking around the city with a poster as a silent protest ... and he says most people have been sympathetic and supportive.

Smash Fest tells us they stand with A$AP and they feel sorry for fans who will miss him this summer ... as he's already missing out on tons of previously scheduled shows across Europe.

A$AP remains in a Swedish jail ... and later this week prosecutors are expected to formally charge him with aggravated assault.

Kyle Richards says everyone needs to take a damn chill pill after Macy's was forced to pull its so-called "skinny jeans" plates after they were deemed as body-shaming.

We got the 'RHOBH' star out Monday at Fred Segal's in L.A. and asked her about the storm of controversy created by a single tweet over the weekend.

ICYMI ... a woman complained about novelty plates that measures food portions by "skinny jeans," "favorite jeans" and "mom jeans." From there ... the social media backlash ramped up, and customers began to pile on complaints.

Customers were pissed about the message the plates were sending ... body-shaming that targets women. In a matter of hours ... Macy's pulled the plates from its NYC location and apologized saying, "We apologize to our customers for missing the mark on this product."

Ronnie Ortiz-Magro's baby mama is off the hook for allegedly chucking an ashtray at his face ... TMZ has learned.

Jen Harley's attorney tells us ... the Clark County District Attorney's Office has declined to prosecute her for domestic battery and the case has been dropped. Law enforcement sources say Ronnie would not cooperate so, without a victim, the case couldn't go forward.

We broke the story ... Harley was arrested in Vegas back in May after a New Year's Eve incident with the 'Jersey Shore' star. Ronnie filed a battery report against Harley, claiming she attacked him inside a club. We obtained video showing Ronnie leaving the club with a bloody face.

Harley claims when she returned home later that night the place was ransacked, she believes at the hands of Ronnie. She accused Ortiz-Magro of smashing valuables, including a vase and a flat-screen TV.

He was also caught on camera smashing the security cam at her front door back in December.

Despite all the turmoil ... the 2 were seen taking a trip to Florida together last month with their daughter, though they didn't look too thrilled about it.

Future's bodyguard was knocked the f out and a source close to the rapper says it was a racially-motivated attack.

The incident went down Monday in Ibiza, Spain at the International Airport. We're told Future had just arrived and was walking through the terminal when 10 guys approached and asked for a photo. Future said, "Not today, guys," because he was tired and had just gotten off a long flight.

We're told the guys then erupted in anger, and began hurling racial slurs and other epithets.

Our sources say Future's bodyguard stepped in and tried to block the guys and get Future to his ride on the curb.

The sources say the bodyguard actually beat up several of the guys before someone came from behind and sucker punched him. The sources claim the person who struck the bodyguard did so with a rock.

Harvey Weinstein has an accuser who is coming after him a second time ... Paz de la Huerta, who spent part of the day Monday with NYC prosecutors.

We got Paz at the Manhattan District Attorney's Office, flanked by her attorney, Mark Heller. As they were leaving, Paz and Mark told us the meeting was about Weinstein, but they wouldn't get more specific.

You'll recall ... Paz is one of several women who've claimed Weinstein sexually assaulted them, and she even sued the disgraced movie producer over two alleged incidents, but the Manhattan D.A. declined to criminally prosecute Weinstein.

They say the D.A. wants to meet them again on Thursday ... unclear why.

She also sheds some light on her hospital scare a couple months back.

Al Franken wishes mightily he hadn't resigned as U.S. Senator in wake of sexual misconduct allegations ... saying he should have put up a fight because he denies he did anything wrong.

The former Senator from Minnesota told The New Yorker he can't go anywhere without people telling him he should NOT have resigned back in December 2017. Franken says, in retrospect, he should have appeared before the Senate Ethics Committee to keep his job.

Franken put some U.S. Senators in his crosshairs, saying they pressured him to resign without due process. At the time, Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand were spearheading the calls for him to resign.

As we reported ... at least 7 women came forward accusing Franken of sexual misconduct. Radio host Leeann Tweeden was first to accuse him in November 2018 ... posting a photo allegedly showing he groped her and also sexually harassed her during a USO trip in 2006.

Franken says the photo with Tweeden was taken out of context, after people asked him to take a photo, and it was one of many shots of him "goofing around." He acknowledges he should never have done it because Leeann was asleep and did not give consent. But, he does say, her version of events "is just not true."

Franken says after he resigned he became clinically depressed and needed medication.

More accusers later came forward ... claiming everything from unwanted groping to attempts of forcible kissing, all of which he denies. Franken -- a rising star in Washington and a fiercely effective critic of the Trump administration -- apologized time and again ... but many still called for him to step down.

When he stepped down, Franken took a parting shot at President Trump and former U.S. Senate candidate Roy Moore saying, "I am leaving while a man who has bragged on tape about his history of sexual assault sits in the Oval Office, and a man who has repeatedly preyed on young girls campaigns for the Senate with the full support of his party."

How fed up is Le'Veon Bell over hearing he cares more about his rap career than his football one?

"Real sh*t, bro, I'm tired of social media sh*t. I'm tired of everybody telling me, 'Le'Veon, you not focused. He only want to make music. He want to play basketball. He do everything besides play football.'"

Yeah, that fed up.

It's all part of an epic airport rant the NY Jets star went on this weekend when he finally hit his breaking point over fans commenting on his social media postings.

Bell blasted everyone telling him he should do more work on the football field ... and his examples for why included the local Target worker, LeBron James and Beyonce.

"Somebody work at Target, do you think when they work from 9-5, they go home and all they doing is worrying about putting fucking shit on the shelves?! They trying to worry about what serial numbers coming up?! No!"

Bell added, "You think Bron is waking up, oh, he ain't having no Taco Tuesdays? Bron don't have Taco Tuesdays -- you think he's hooping all day?"

"You think Beyonce waking up singing all day? She don't go to work, she don't act. She doesn't do nothing with her kids, she's just waking up singing?!"

Of course, 27-year-old Bell has taken major heat from fans after sitting out all of last year's football season while simultaneously working on his rap career.

Clearly, the dude has had enough of the criticism ... 'cause he decided to start RUNNING down the stairs at the airport to prove his point!

"I'm going to give you all this one time. Run down these damn steps."

A$AP Rocky says race is not an issue in his detention, TMZ has learned ... but the reality is, he has to say that.

There's certainly plenty of smoke ... as we reported, G-Eazy -- a white rapper -- was arrested in Sweden for assault and cocaine possession, yet he only spent a day-and-a-half in jail, pled guilty, coughed up $9k and he was on his merry way.

A$AP's been in jail going on 3 weeks and he hasn't even been charged, and when that happens it will only be for aggravated assault ... an assault that was provoked by the alleged victim.

That said, our A$AP sources say he has made it clear to all in contact with him ... he doesn't think he's being held because he's black. That's consistently been his story.

Here's the reality ... if A$AP or his team DARED suggest he's being held because he's a black rapper, there would be hell to pay with the prosecutor and probably the judge as well. We've spoken with Swedish Embassy and other officials, and they're all adamant ... they do not discriminate. If foreigners suggested otherwise in court, our sources say it would be a disaster.

We're told A$AP will be charged and will then face 6 years in prison. The best defense they got is provocation by the alleged victim.

One thing's clear by now ... all the work the State Dept. and President have done trying to lobby Swedish officials hasn't worked ... in fact, it may have been counterproductive because prosecutors may not like what they consider intermeddling, and the Prime Minister is siding with them.

Live Nation's provoking the ire of concert lovers everywhere, because it's fessed up to the shady practice of putting tickets directly on resale sites ... before the public even has a chance to buy them at face value.

The touring company's admission comes on the heels of a Billboard report detailing a secretly recorded phone call between a Live Nation honcho and an event promoter for Metallica in February 2017 ... days before the band announced its WorldWired North American stadium tour.

During the call ... the 2 parties agreed to put 88,000 tickets directly on secondary market sites like StubHub, so people never got a chance to buy them on sites like Ticketmaster, which is actually owned by Live Nation.

The company's admitted to facilitating this scalping practice for "about a dozen artists out of the thousands we work with" ... but other than Metallica, the bands remain unknown.

Live Nation says it did it because bands know face value of its concert tickets are often lower than market value ... so the tactic allows them to recapture a cut of that money.

According to the report ... Live Nation used various covert methods to place tickets on resale sites immediately, including having employees transfer thousands of tickets into single accounts to be listed and sold on secondary market sites.

So, the next time a show sells out immediately online ... eyebrows shall be justifiably raised.

A$AP Rocky's hometown congressman isn't sure if President Trump is genuine in wanting to help free him -- but he says it doesn't matter ... as long as the end goal is achieved.

We got Rep. Adriano Espaillat in NYC Sunday -- where he represents A$AP's home borough of Harlem -- and asked what he made of Trump saying he'd guarantee Rocky's bail if need be.

As we reported ... Trump tweeted out an update on the legal sitch in Sweden -- where A$AP's been jailed for about three weeks now -- and said he spoke the Prime Minister, assuring him the rapper wasn't a flight risk, and that he'd even vouch for his bail.

Rep. Espaillat says Trump being willing to put his own rep on the line for A$AP's bail is somewhat irrelevant, 'cause as he points out ... money's not really the issue here.

Our guy asks if DT's just using this as a re-election tactic to tap into a new demographic of potential voters come 2020, but the congressman won't go there. He tells us he doesn't wanna speculate on potential motives -- but what he is sure about is that those wanting to get A$AP freed will take any help they can get at this point, including from 45.

Hard to tell if POTUS' involvement is going to help A$AP, because the Swedish PM says he made it clear that their judicial system is independent and won't be subject to outside lobbying.

As A$AP Rocky rots in a Swedish jail for weeks without being charged with a crime, you gotta wonder how another rapper -- a white rapper -- accused of the same crime and more spent a relative nanosecond behind bars before being allowed to go on his merry way and leave the country.

You may recall a story TMZ broke a year ago in May, when G-Eazy was arrested in Stockholm after punching a security guard in a club and snorting coke using a $100 bill.

G-Eazy was arrested for assault, possession of drugs and use of narcotics. There was no video of the attack, yet prosecutors allowed him to strike a deal a day-and-a-half later ... he pled guilty to violent resistance, a crime of violence against an official and illegal drug possession. His sentence -- a $10k fine and probation. He was also ordered to pay the security guard $900.

That was it ... G-Eazy was allowed to leave the country, no muss, no fuss.

Now, compare that to A$AP. There's VIDEO of the assault -- actually 2 videos, the other being the alleged victim assaulting Rocky first -- yet prosecutors and the judge have kept him in jail for more than 2 weeks as they continue to "investigate" and decide if he'll be charged. As we reported, prosecutors mistakenly played their hand Friday and said he was going to get indicted.

A$AP faces 6 years in prison for his alleged assault. G-Eazy spend less than 2 days behind bars.

And, one more thing. Remember, back in 2015 Snoop Dogg was arrested in Sweden after being snatched out of his car because cops believed he was driving under the influence. He was forced to pee in a cup and was released after cops determined he was clean. Snoop, who was there for a concert, said it was a case of DWB and he would never return to the country.

So, what gives?