Controversial S#!T

"New Girl" star Lamorne Morris was handcuffed by cops as he filmed them arresting his friend outside a club in Hollywood.

Lamorne's friend got into it with security at Avenue nightclub Saturday night. His friend was bleeding from the face when cops arrived, and they cuffed and arrested him.

Lamorne did not understand why his buddy was busted, saying his friend was the one who was attacked. As the actor filmed the arrest on his cellphone, a cop manhandled him, placed him against the wall and handcuffed him.

Conor McGregor is reportedly being investigated for a second alleged sexual assault -- although he hasn't been arrested ... and vehemently denies the claim.

The UFC star has been accused of sexually assaulting a 20-something woman in her car last week outside of a Dublin pub, and a complaint has been filed with police there ... this according to the New York Times, citing anonymous law enforcement sources.

The paper says authorities have yet to interview McGregor, and he has yet to be charged as well. McGregor's spokesperson tells TMZ that Conor is often the subject of rumors, adding that his client "emphatically denies any report accusing him of sexual assault."

Of course, this comes months after McGregor was reportedly arrested and questioned for another alleged sexual assault that an accuser says happened in December of last year. The Times reports he was taken into custody back in January of this year, but got released pending further investigation ... which is standard there in the Republic.

Again, McGregor has NOT yet been charged in that case either ... and vehemently denied the Times's account at the time, while also denying the investigation is why he retired.

The timing of this second accusation of sexual assault probably couldn't have come at a worse time, considering McGregor is already facing charges in his native land for allegedly roughing up an old-timer in an Irish bar, of which TMZ got surveillance footage.

He was just in court this last week -- looking sharp too -- where he was told he'd have to either enter a plea or request a trial date at his next hearing on Nov. 1.

Tom Brady makes an eyebrow-raising cameo in Paul Rudd's new TV show, but he absolutely denies it was a shot at Robert Kraft ... and he may have a point.

Here's the deal ... the Patriots quarterback makes a brief appearance in Netflix's new comedy series, "Living with Yourself," which just debuted Friday. In an out-of-context clip that's going viral, Tom strolls out the front doors of a massage parlor called "Top Happy Spa."

Rudd's character meets Brady as he pulls up and internally debates whether he wants to go in or not. At that moment, TB walks out and asks Rudd, "First time?" Rudd says yes, and asks it back to Brady ... he tells Rudd, "Six," before getting into an SUV and driving off.

Obviously, with Kraft's prostitution case ... folks are wondering whether Brady's participation was a dig at his boss, or if this scene was shot before Tom knew about it. As it turns out, the show's creator says Tom shot the scene after the Kraft scandal became public.

But, Tom's calling BS, telling reporters Saturday that the scene was written 4 years ago, and that he had no idea that his character would be exiting a spa when he shot his cameo earlier this year ... adding that there was a green screen behind him while on set.

TB said, "It's unfortunate that people would choose to think I would do something like that about Mr. Kraft." He continued by saying the similarities were just a coincidence.

What added fuel to the fire prior to Brady's comments was the fact that the show's creator, Timothy Greenberg, previously told media outlets that, as noted above, Brady had shot the scene AFTER Kraft's scandal went public ... the implication being TB knew what he was doing.

Granted, Greenberg says they'd discussed Tom's involvement before the scandal broke, but when it finally came to light ... he for sure thought TB would pull out. To his surprise, the G.O.A.T. didn't ... and Greenberg says he never understood why, and didn't care to find out.

What's still unclear, though, is if Tom had actually been told what exactly the scene entailed and if he'd been given a copy of the script beforehand. Based on what he said Saturday, it makes it seem he was in the dark as to the context of the scene.

Presumably, if he'd known he was leaving a massage parlor, he might not have done it ... at least that's what we can glean from what he told reporters.

Now, for the real context of the scene ... it's not what you may think based on this one clip. In the minutes leading up to the scene, it's revealed that Rudd's character has impotence issues with his wife, and is looking into options to help him -- fertility clinics, etc.

At a bar, a friend of his tells him about a day spa he went to that rejuvenated him and his libido -- which Rudd initially scoffs off as just a place to get a "h*** j**."

The friend tells him otherwise though, saying it's not like that ... and that the spa gives you a full makeover, which might be able to help Rudd's situation. The friend tells him it's a highly exclusive place, with only VIP clients that pay a fortune for a session.

The Hong Kong protests migrated to the U.S. Friday, where demonstrators tore into the NBA and LeBron James during the Raptors/Nets Game in Brooklyn.

The demonstrators were holding signs that read, "Human Rights Matter! Here + There!" and "NBA Stand for Freedom" while wearing T-shirts that read "Free Tibet" and "Stand With Hong Kong."

One sign read, "Tsai & LeBron: Morey was right - NBA: Stand for freedom” and “Don’t let China buy our silence, people are dying to be free”.

Protesters continued chanting until they were escorted out of the arena by security. They vowed to continue appearing at NBA games.

Tensions between the NBA, the Chinese government and pro-Hong Kong protesters intensified over the last week. It started when Houston Rockets GM Daryl Morey tweeted in support of Hong Kong.

Lofa Tatupu says his body feels so good right now after using CBD ... he could make an NFL comeback TODAY -- and tells TMZ Sports he'd legit consider coming out of retirement if the league legalized it!!!

"If it's accepted in the next CBA," the former linebacker All-Pro says, "You might see a comeback -- I'll be 38 by then, but I don't care!"

Lofa was a superstar for the Seahawks from 2005 to 2010 ... earning 3 Pro Bowl selections and an All-Pro honor -- but injuries and concussions ultimately cut his NFL career short.

But, when we spoke with Tatupu earlier this week ... he says he's been taking CBD to cure his issues -- and he's never felt physically better in his life.

"I feel -- and I'm not lying -- better than my three Pro Bowl years," Tatupu says.

In fact, Lofa -- who's launched his own CBD company called ZoneIn CBD -- says he's feeling so good ... he thinks he could withstand the rigors of the NFL once again -- at nearly 40 years old!!!

Justin Trudeau's blackface scandal is still a hot-button issue as the election for Canada's Prime Minister approaches ... as a couple of demonstrators were happy to remind him.

Trudeau took a road trip Friday in Ontario to meet with voters and hold babies -- including black babies -- as he campaigns for reelection, making stops in Barrie and Whitby.

He was greeted by a group of protesters, at one of his stops, decked out in blackface while holding up the old blackface photos of Trudeau that threw him into a storm of controversy.

The demonstrators also had signs reading, "We're Aladdin Too! Orillia Blackface Club Welcomes Trudeau."

As we've reported ... the Canadian PM has been on the apology tour since a 2001 yearbook photo surfaced showing him in blackface when he was 29 years old. He claimed he was dressed as Aladdin but, after the initial scandal, 2 other instances surfaced where Trudeau wore blackface as part of a costume.

Justin's been trying to save face ever since, staging a boxing workout with a famous black fighter and appearing on a kids' show to tell a pair of black twin girls he was sorry.

Fugees rapper Pras says when it comes to singing the n-word ... Gina Rodriguez has to earn a pass. Question is ... has she?

Pras hopped on "TMZ Live" Friday and let it be known that only certain Latin people who have contributed to the culture and those deeply embedded in the black community are given an honorary pass to say the word while singing a song.

As far as Gina's concerned ... Pras says he knows she's Latina but doesn't know her background well enough to speak on whether to issue her an honorary pass or not.

As we reported ... Gina got a lot of heat earlier this week for saying "n***a" while singing Lauryn Hill's verse on the Fugees' 1996 hit, "Ready or Not."

"Love & Hip Hop Miami" star Amara La Negra and Boyz II Men singer Shawn Stockman say Gina's earned the green light ... but seems the debate rages on.

Jane Fonda's true to her word -- she said she's willing to get hauled off to jail every Friday in order to raise awareness about the climate crisis ... and she's walking that walk.

Jane and several other protesters -- including her "Grace and Frankie" costar and "Law & Order" legend, Sam Waterston -- just got arrested on the steps outside the U.S. Capitol building in D.C.

Like last week ... Fonda and a group of fellow climate change advocates were cuffed and put in a police van for their part in what she calls the "Fire Drill Fridays" initiative.

Jane's vowed to stage a demonstration outside the Capitol every Friday no matter what, after being inspired by Swedish teen activist Greta Thunberg and her weekly climate strikes across the globe.

It's unclear how many protesters were arrested this time -- last week, cops busted 16 people for unlawfully demonstrating -- but it seems like law enforcement better expect to make this part of their weekly routine.

We reached out to Jane's team ... no word back so far.

If people don't want Gina Rodriguez and others to drop the n-word while singing along to their favorite songs, then the artists should stop including it in their lyrics ... so says Amara La Negra.

The "Love & Hip Hop Miami" star tells TMZ ... she doesn't believe Gina had malicious intent when she used the term "n***a" while singing along to Lauryn Hill, so it shouldn't be a big deal at all.

Amara's take is if you're offended or sensitive about a non-black person singing the n-word, you should blame the creator of the song ... not the fans of the singer trying to mimic them.

Amara adds she's Latina like Gina, but believes the "Jane the Virgin" star is getting more flak for this because her skin is lighter than Amara's ... and that's a whole other complicated issue.

She concedes that Rodriguez probably should have known better than to post a clip of herself singing the n-word, but she's certain she wasn't trying to harm anyone ... so her apology should suffice.

Besides, Amara says a lot of Latinos are raised alongside African-Americans and are used to hearing the word and feel it's acceptable for them to use it ... once again, as long as they aren't using it maliciously.

As we told you ... a 7-year-old clip of Gina saying "n***a" in a comedy sketch resurfaced on the heels of her current controversy, lending credence to the notion that she's got a pass to say it.

Todd Chrisley tried to intimidate his daughter by accusing her of having an affair with a Georgia tax official, and warned her he had a sex tape of her -- at least that's what Lindsie Chrisley told Dr. Phil.

Lindsie spilled the tea on her dark meeting with her father, in which she says he tried to coerce her cooperation in his state tax case, but instead, ended up scaring her enough she went to cops.

Lindsie tells Dr. Phil she met with Todd thinking he wanted to reconcile, but instead he told her he had dirt -- proof of an affair with someone at the Georgia Dept. of Revenue's Office which was investigating him.

Separate from the Georgia tax man allegation ... Lindsie says her father told her he had nude photos and a sex tape of her -- allegedly purchased by her brother, Chase, for $5,000.

Dr. Phil asked if it was a veiled threat Todd might go to the media about her alleged affair and release the sex tape -- and Lindsie says that's exactly how she took it. She claims Todd wanted her to help him out out of legal woes. Lindsie says she opted to get her lawyer Musa Ghanayem involved and file a police report.

As we reported ... Todd and his wife, Julie, are suing Joshua Waites, the Director of the Georgia Dept. of Revenue's Office of Special Investigation, claiming he pursued a relationship with Lindsie in order to smear him.

In the lawsuit, Todd attached several texts between Waites and Lindsie. In one text, Waites writes, "So. Some stuff happened today. And we have a meeting the first of the year that is super big. And is all about Todd. Like serious. So. I want to know if you would be willing to talk about him or her."

Lindsie denies ever meeting Waites in person, but admits she communicated with him ... but only to protect her son. Todd and Julie recently settled the state tax evasion case, but are still dealing with a federal one.

As for that sex tape ... it became the subject of a federal extortion investigation in August, which is also still pending.

We've reached out to Todd's camp ... so far, no word back.

Gina Rodriguez comfort level with using the n-word is on display in a resurfaced clip -- and while it's a scripted sketch, it supports the notion Gina, and others, feel like she gets a pass.

The video which is just now going viral, for obvious reasons, is from over 7 years ago ... and shows Gina in a scene with 2 black men. Speaking to them like a coach, she says, "You heard me, take a lap, n***a."

The scene is from a YouTube skit for "Northside Comedy," and was shot long before her career started taking off as the lead in "Jane the Virgin."

Some folks online are pissed at Gina because the clip -- now deleted from the 'Northside' YouTube page -- surfaced on the heels of her using the n-word while singing a Fugees song on social media.

She apologized twice for using the term while singing along to Lauryn Hill.

TMZ broke the story ... Boyz II Men singer Shawn Stockman says he has no problem with Gina saying 'n***a' because her parents are Puerto Rican. Shawn says he considers Latinos to be black.

Gina herself has said her father identifies as Afro-Latino ... still, she's taking tons of flak online, and this newly-surfaced clip is adding fuel to that fire.

NBA commissioner Adam Silver wants to make it clear he did NOT apologize to the Chinese government for Daryl Morey's pro-Hong Kong tweet ... but he still wants to save the NBA's relationship with the foreign power.

"I'd hate to see this relationship end over this incident," Silver told TMZ Sports in New York.

When asked specifically if he would be open to going back to China to play more NBA exhibition games next year, Silver told us, "Nothing is off the table."

"We do need to reset with the Chinese government and everybody has to establish what the rules of the road are going to be going forward."

Silver touched on a variety of China-related topics during our conversation ... here are some of the hit points:

-- Silver says he's spoken with Daryl Morey several times since the initial "Stand with Hong Kong" tweet to make sure he's "getting through this okay."

-- Silver says Morey has been getting "pressure" from hundreds of millions of Chinese people but he's also happy Daryl is getting support from people in the U.S.

-- Silver says he has NOT spoken about the issue with Donald Trump but has had conversations with people in Trump's administration.

-- Silver has consulted with NBA player Enes Kanter about the situation. Kanter, who's from Turkey, has caught hell back home for speaking out against the Turkish government and he ripped LeBron James for the comments he made condemning Daryl Morey.

-- Silver also says he consulted former NBA commish David Stern about the issue since Stern is still an adviser to the league.

-- Silver also admitted he was "bothered" that the league's initial statement about the Morey tweet was interpreted by many to be an apology to the Chinese government.

The initial statement read, "We recognize that the views expressed by Houston Rockets General Manager Daryl Morey have deeply offended many of our friends and fans in China, which is regrettable."

"While Daryl has made it clear that his tweet does not represent the Rockets or the NBA, the values of the league support individuals’ educating themselves and sharing their views on matters important to them."

Silver explained to TMZ Sports ... "It bothered me that in saying we regretted upsetting hundreds of millions of Chinese fans while at the same time supporting Daryl Morey’s speech, it bothered me, I’d say, that it was interpreted as an apology to the Chinese government."

"We certainly didn’t apologize to the Chinese government."

"We supported Daryl from the get-go in terms of his ability to tweet. We also made clear that there were consequences from that speech. And, I think that was no doubt frustrating to a lot of people in the NBA community because it was incredibly disruptive. But, you know, we accepted that. Daryl knew we accepted that. There was not much we could do about that. But, I think it bothered me that somehow even though we – I felt were holding the line in a way that many companies haven’t been able to in China, meaning there was no discipline of our employee, there was never a suggestion that we weren’t supporting him."

Cuba Gooding Jr. allegedly grabbed a handful of butt at a party in Los Angeles and the woman reported him to police, but prosecutors didn't feel they had enough evidence to charge the actor with a crime ... law enforcement sources tell TMZ.

Our sources say Cuba's alleged butt-grabbing went down at a shindig in L.A. sometime in the past year -- the woman filed a police report and cops investigated. We're told the case was turned over to the L.A. City Attorney for misdemeanor sexual battery, but the City Attorney rejected the case in August because of a lack of evidence.

Cuba's attorney, Mark Heller, tells TMZ ... "Cuba doesn’t recall this case. He’s out every night of his life. He meets so many people. He interacts with so many people -- he can’t remember all the people he meets."

This previously unknown allegation against Cuba comes on the heels of Tuesday's 4-count indictment against him in New York, where he's facing one count of forcible touching and one count of sexual abuse in the third degree -- both misdemeanors -- related to his new accuser, and the same charges for his original accuser from this summer's rooftop bar incident.

Is LeBron James using fashion to make a political statement? Maybe ...

After LeBron dropped 18 points in the Lakers preseason win over Golden State on Wednesday, he took his wife out for a date while wearing a Nike shirt that says, "No Clout."

A lot of Bron critics would probably agree with the shirt after the way LeBron's been handling the China situation ... so you gotta wonder if Bron picked out the shirt as a way of acknowledging and addressing the backlash.

Or, maybe he just liked the shirt.

We tried to ask Bron about the China situation on his way out of the Highlight Room Rooftop Lounge in L.A., where he had a date night with Savannah ... but it was clear Bron wouldn't go there.

Instead, he engaged with fans, complimented some young girls as "Queens" and got into his car ... he was very nice to everyone.

Seems Bron is looking to get his life back to normal amid the China drama -- he balled out during the preseason game and everyone's talking about this insane no-look, over the shoulder assist.

Are people ready to move on already? We'll see ...

Ex-Baylor superstar and NFL prospect Shawn Oakman is making his return to the football field -- the defensive end just got drafted by the XFL's Los Angeles Wildcats.

27-year-old Oakman was destined for the NFL before he was accused of sexual assault days before the 2016 Draft. He went undrafted and spent the next 3 years fighting to prove his innocence.

Oakman was exonerated back in February -- with a jury deliberating 2 hours before finding him not guilty. Oakman had long argued the sex was consensual.

Oakman has been training like a maniac ever since his court battle ended in hopes of getting his football career back on track ... and now the XFL has given him his chance, with the Wildcats drafting him in the Open Phase of the draft on Wednesday.

"Look what god made I'm god like (prayer hands)," Oakman said. "The Rebirth Continues."

Shawn Stockman is giving Gina Rodriguez a pass for singing the n-word ... he says it's totally fine because her parents are Puerto Rican, and Latinos are black.

We got the Boyz II Men singer Wednesday at LAX and asked him to weigh-in on the backlash Gina's getting after saying "n***a" while singing along to the Fugees on social media.

Shawn says he's not offended by Gina's use of the word, and he goes one step further ... saying people of Puerto Rican, Cuban, Dominican and Mexican descent can say "n***a" because they're all different shades of black.

Gina quickly apologized after her social media post went viral, saying sorry for offending anyone and explaining her connection to Lauryn Hill and the Fugees. But, Shawn thinks Gina has absolutely nothing to apologize for.