Controversial S#!T

Harvey Weinstein just did a new on-the-record interview since the flood of allegations came pouring in against him -- and his first thought out ... he's a champion of women.

The disgraced movie producer -- who's now been criminally charged in relation to some of the allegations of sexual misconduct and abuse -- spoke to the New York Post from his hospital room in NYC, from which he was later discharged following his back surgery.

One of the big takeaways from the interview -- again, one of his first with a paper of record since 2018 -- is he thinks people are forgetting everything he's done for women in his career.

Weinstein says he feels like the "forgotten man," going on to add ... "I made more movies directed by women and about women than any filmmaker, and I’m talking about 30 years ago. I’m not talking about now when it’s vogue. I did it first! I pioneered it!"

He continues by saying, "It all got eviscerated because of what happened. My work has been forgotten."

For example, Weinstein cites giving Gwyneth Paltrow $10 million to star in the 2003 movie, "View from the Top" -- which he says was more than any of the men made at the time. He also says he got Felicity Huffman an Academy Award nom by casting her in "Transamerica" ... a move he considers super progressive, and something he thinks he deserves credit for.

He also says Madonna made him aware of the documentary, "Paris is Burning" -- which captures the drag culture of the city -- and apparently wants a pat on the back for bringing it to audiences in the U.S. and beyond by snapping up the distribution rights.

Weinstein goes on to tout his humanitarian efforts through the years and summed up his thoughts by saying, "If you remember who I was then, you might want to question some of this." He did NOT, however, specifically address any of the accusations against him.

He's going to trial on Jan. 6 on five different charges, including predatory sexual assault, a criminal sex act and rape. Weinstein faces life in prison if convicted -- he's pled not guilty.

Here it is ... a KEY piece of the video at the center of the Patriots SpyGate II scandal -- and it's reallllllly bad for the Pats.

The footage, obtained by "NFL on FOX" reporter Jay Glazer, shows the moments the Patriots video crew is confronted by Cincinnati Bengals' security last weekend over concerns the crew was illegally shooting video of their sidelines.

During the exchange, you can hear Bengals security express major concerns over the video -- since it REALLY looks like the videographer was SPYING!!

Remember, the Patriots say the video team was tasked to shoot a behind-the-scenes segment on an advanced scout for a show on the Pats website called "Do Your Job."

But, as the Bengals security official points out to the video crew, there's a large chunk of the video where you don't see the scout ... only the Bengals sidelines.

Here's an exchange from the video ...

Bengals Security: "And, this is a piece your filming on your advanced scout?

Pat's video crew: "Yeah."

Bengals Security: "Yeah? C'mon guys! I don't see the advanced scout in this footage!"

Patriots video crew: "No, that's not. We were trying to get some field perspective. That's my bad."

The Patriots crew offered to delete the video but the Bengals security told him, "The damage is done my friend!"

The Bengals immediately referred the matter to NFL security and the league has launched an investigation.

The Patriots have admitted the video team broke league rules -- but they insist the video team was NOT tasked to spy, claiming the whole thing was an accident.

For his part, Glazer says there WILL be a punishment -- but it's unclear what it will be at this point.

Bill Belichick has denied involvement -- claiming the video team does not report to him.

During the "NFL On FOX" pregame show on Sunday, both Michael Strahan and Curt Menefee expressed how BAD of a look it is on the team.

Especially since the Patriots were caught in a video cheating scandal back in 2007 and were punished heavily for it.

Lori Loughlin and her husband, Mossimo Giannulli, have gone on the offensive in the College Admissions scandal, claiming prosecutors are intentionally hiding evidence that proves the famous couple didn't intend to secretly bribe anyone.

Lori and Mossimo's lawyers claim in new legal docs ... their clients made "legitimate donations" ... "At trial, Giannulli and Loughlin will help establish their innocence by showing that they understood both sets of payments to be legitimate donations and did not understand or intent that either set of payments would be used to directly or indirectly bribe Heinel [former USC senior associate athletic director]."

The lawyers want to get info on whether USC knew of Rick Singer's activities with various parents and students. If there's evidence USC knew ... Lori and Mossimo will clearly argue this was not bribery ... that payments had become institutionalized.

Nick Cannon just can't get enough of his diss track aimed at Eminem -- playing it back-to-back-to-back (and then some) -- and vibing to it harder than anyone else in the room.

Nick's been busy shooting new episodes of 'Wild 'n Out' in Atlanta this week ... and we got some footage from behind the scenes. Nick took control of the DJ booth one day, and our sources say he played "The Invitation" -- his Eminem diss track -- at least 20 times.

We're told Nick not only played the track on repeat for his VIP guests, staff and cast members, he also played it over the speakers for the audience on the main stage.

Our sources say the 'Wild 'n Out' staff is confident Eminem will eventually take the bait, and come on the show -- and 'Invitation' will become an anthem for their battle.

Important to note ... we're coming up on a week since Nick fired the first shot, and still nothing from Em -- so, the 'WnO' crew better not be holding their breath.

As we reported, Nick dropped not one, but TWO diss tracks this week. "The Invitation" took a homophobic shot at Eminem, saying, "I heard your chauffeur got a video of you suckin' c**k." Another verse, referencing Mariah Carey, "My baby mama killed you off a decade ago, You're still crying about it bitch, now who really the ho?"

Marshall hasn't said much, other than a couple tweets, back at Nick. In one, "U mad bro? Stop lying on my d**k. I never even had a chauffeur, you bougie f**k."

The Game knows he's walking a thin line when it comes to criticizing Oprah -- but says 50 Cent's got him thinking it's time to do a deep dive into who she targets with her documentaries.

We got Game out in L.A. and got his take on Fiddy calling out O ... claiming she's targeting famous black men accused of being sexual predators for her upcoming #MeToo documentary.

You gotta see Game's reaction ... he's seriously dumbfounded at the possibility Oprah's giving the likes of Harvey Weinstein and Jeffrey Epstein a pass while putting Russell Simmons and Michael Jackson in her crosshairs.

The rapper threw out a wild theory about a possible "secret society" of the super-rich Oprah might belong to that demands she NOT target rich, powerful white men. Like we said, wild ... and Game emphasizes he doesn't know anything for sure.

Not yet, anyway. Check out the clip, and you'll get a better idea of what he's diving into this weekend.

Sarah Huckabee Sanders doesn't seem to regret leaving Trump's White House one iota -- because she looks as calm and relaxed as we've seen her since stepping into DT's orbit.

We got the former Press Secretary Saturday at the Reagan Airport in D.C. for a quick catch-up on her life since she resigned from her role back in the summer. While it feels like she did that ages ago, it's only been a few short months -- that's how much has happened since.

Our camera guy jokingly asks how she's enjoying her early "retirement," and it sounds like SHS has no plans to hang it up completely just yet. Word around town is she's ramping up for a gubernatorial run in Arkansas -- where her dad was the gov for a long time.

We asked her about that, and Mrs. Sanders gave us a classic political non-answer answer. She didn't say no though ... so the door's certainly there if she wants to open it in a few years.

Sarah also gives us an update on what she's been up to lately, saying she's spent a lot of much-needed time with her family -- and has enjoyed every minute of it. Then, we get into impeachment ... asking if she's happy not to be part of that mess right now.

Orlando Jones is putting the new showrunner for "American Gods" on full blast ... saying he's responsible for getting the actor fired from the show.

OJ went on the attack Saturday morning in a video he posted to his social media, saying he was fired from the STARZ series a few months ago in September ... a decision he appears to be pinning on TV screenwriter Charles "Chic" Eglee, who got tapped to head up season 3.

Check out the clip ... Orlando -- who played Mr. Nancy for the first two seasons on 'AG' -- says the new showrunner apparently felt his character's "angry, get-s**t-done" attitude was the wrong message to broadcast to black America. Clearly, Orlando thinks that's BS.

He goes on to say, "That's right, this white man sits in that decision-making chair. And I'm sure he has many black BFFs who are his advisers and made it clear to him, that if they did not get rid of that angry god Mr. Nancy, he'd start a Denmark Vesey uprising in this country."

Orlando goes on to thank the OG showrunners -- Neil Gaiman, Bryan Fuller and Michael Green -- for letting him become a writer/producer on the show, as well as fans of course.

In a separate post, Orlando also blasts Fremantle Media, the production company behind "American Gods" and several other TV shows, including "America's Got Talent." Speaking of that, OJ tags Nick Cannon, Gabrielle Union, Mel B and other stars ... saying they've all claimed the company is a nightmare and treats its talent like "2nd class citizen(s)."

He seems to agree with that characterization. As far as Eglee, Orlando doesn't name drop him -- but there's only been one new showrunner announced for season 3, and it's him.

We've reached out to the guy for comment ... so far, no word back.

Don't stick a fork in Eli Manning just yet -- his friend and ex-teammate, Plaxico Burress, is adamant he'll play again in 2020 ... telling us, "It won't be the last you see of him."

Plax LOVED the way 38-year-old Eli played against the Philadelphia Eagles this weekend -- "S**t, I think E-Money held his own!"

And, while most people think Eli will hang it up at the end of the season, the former NY Giants WR says he just ain't convinced Manning's ready to retire.

"I don't think it's the end of the road. That's my main man. That's my homeboy," Plax says ... "It won't be the last you see of him. I'll tell you that."

The big question ... will Eli stay with the Giants, where he's played his entire career or move on to another team in need of a QB.

When Manning DOES decide to retire, Plaxico says there's ZERO DOUBT he'll end up in the Hall of Fame.

"First ballot, no doubt about it," Plax says ... "How is he not? 2 Super Bowls, 2 MVPs ... how many QBs have done it?"

Charles Oakley says even though the dude's a LEGEND in New York, Patrick Ewing simply ain't the right guy to take over for David Fizdale as Knicks head coach.

But, don't worry, Oak's got someone in mind -- Mark Jackson!!

TMZ Sports spoke with the ex-NY star about the coaching vacancy ... and, while he lists off a number of ex-Knicks who are qualified for the gig, Ewing ain't one of them.

Why??

"Ya gotta be a different type of coach than Patrick," Oak tells us. "I think he tried before and they didn’t hire him. So, I don’t know. We’ll see what happens."

Also, why??

Teofimo Lopez says the violence won't end when the bell rings Saturday night ... 'cause he's promising to attack the world's top pound-for-pound boxer -- and he even wrote the TMZ headline for when it goes down.

"Teofimo Slaps The S**t Outta Viva Lomachenko!!"

Yeah, he's probably playin' around ... but you get the point. Teofimo wants to put hands on Lomachenko.

22-year old Lopez is 14-0 with 11 KOs ... and is considered one of the best young prospects in the entire sport.

He's fighting IBF champ Richard Commey Saturday night at Madison Square Garden ... and, while he's super focused on keeping that undefeated record, he admits he's got his eye on a fight with Vasyl Lomachenko.

"I think Saturday night, I kinda put the exclamation point on it, showing everybody that we are ready to take on who they say is the pound-for-pound best. For me, I don't see him as the pound-for-pound best."

If Teofimo wins, a fight with Vasyl is likely to go down in 2020 ... or sooner. As in Saturday night ... 'cause Lopez says VL will be in the building

"He'll be in New York for the fight and everything to watch ringside," Lopez says ...

"So, I get to slap him afterward. It'll be cool."

Janoris Jenkins says he now understands how hurtful the r-word can be -- telling TMZ Sports he won't use the term again and vows to learn from this experience.

Just hours after the NY Giants released Jenkins for using the word to insult a critic on Twitter, the NFL star agreed to speak with TMZ's Evan Rosenblum, a parent of a 4-year-old special needs daughter.

During the conversation, Evan explained why using the r-word as an insult is particularly hurtful for special needs families -- and Jenkins called it a "learning moment."

"It's always a learning moment, man. Everybody's going to learn from different situations ... move forward and learn."

Jane Fonda's ever-growing celebrity crew of climate change activists has a new recruit -- Sally Field ... and she's been arrested for the cause too.

The legendary actress was hauled away by Capitol police in D.C. Friday for protesting on the steps of the building ... just like Fonda, several more members of Hollywood's elite and many other concerned citizens the past 10 weeks of Jane's "Fire Drill Friday" initiative.

Sally spoke to the crowd before her arrest, addressing this week's theme of transitioning to a green future ... and cited her Oscar-winning film, "Norma Rae," for inspiration in getting it done.

It's unclear how many people were arrested on a rainy Friday along with Field, but once again it seems like Fonda ducked trouble.

As we've reported ... Jane's been cautiously avoiding getting locked up after 4 previous arrests for protesting, because a 5th could lead to substantial jail time and her 'FDF' folks want her around for her leadership.

That hasn't stopped other stars from joining the arrest club, though ... Paul Sheer, Diane Lane, Piper Perabo, Amber Valletta, Sam Waterston, Ted Danson, Rosanna Arquette and Catherine Keener have all taken one for the team since the movement began.

Taylor Swift laid into Scooter Braun again -- this time railing on what she calls "toxic male privilege" in the record industry.

Taylor won the Woman of the Decade Award at Billboard's Women in Music event in Hollywood at The Palladium.

Her speech went 15 minutes, and she launched another attack against Braun, who bought Big Machine Records several months ago ... the company that owns Taylor's first 6 album masters.

Taylor repeated her claim that Scooter never contacted her prior to him buying the label, and she said she resented record companies treating a singer's art like a commodity such as a shoe.

She went on to say no one from Scooter's camp has ever contacted her or her team prior to the purchase of Big Machine. As we reported, Braun publicly said a few weeks ago he wanted to sit down with Taylor to resolve things but neither she nor her team ever contacted them.

She went on to say the definition of toxic male privilege is, "Well, he's always been nice to me."

The reaction to Taylor's speech seemed mixed. When she finished speaking about Scooter, she seemed to wait for applause, and it did not come immediately ... and when it did it was less than thunderous.

The New York Giants have cut star CB Janoris Jenkins days after calling a fan the r-word ... and then refusing to apologize.

Jenkins used the word -- often used to mock people with special needs -- to insult a fan on social media who had been critical of Jenkins' recent play.

When pressed about using the word -- which has been condemned by organizations like the Special Olympics -- Jenkins shrugged it off and said it was just "hood" talk.

The Giants weren't satisfied with Jenkins' "apology" ... so the organization made the decision to fire the Pro Bowler on Friday.

“This was an organizational decision,” coach Pat Shurmur said.

“From ownership to management to our football operations, we felt it was in the best interests of the franchise and the player. Obviously, what happened this week, and the refusal to acknowledge the inappropriate and offensive language, was the determining factor.”

Janoris joined the Giants as a free agent in 2016 ... and had the best season of his career -- making the Pro Bowl.

This year's been a struggle ... the Giants are 2-11 and there's been beef between JJ and the coaching staff.

But ... none of that matters now 'cause Jenkins is a goner.

As for the star CB, he doesn't seem too broken up about being cut, tweeting "Best news ever.. Thank you"

50 Cent thinks Oprah is targeting famous black men accused of being sexual predators ... but gives white guys in the same boat a pass.

The rapper took to Instagram to call O out, saying ... "I don’t understand why Oprah is going after black men. No Harvey Weinstein, No Epstein, just Micheal Jackson and Russell Simmons this sh*t is sad."

Fiddy's referring to the media mogul's upcoming #MeToo documentary featuring Drew Dixon, one of the women who's accused Russell Simmons of sexual misconduct, along with her 'After Neverland' interview of Jackson's accusers, Wade Robson and James Safechuck.

50 also roped in Oprah's close friend Gayle King -- who conducted R. Kelly's disastrous TV interview after "Surviving R. Kelly" renewed outrage about his behavior -- adding ... "Gale hit R Kelly with the death blow documentary," and he claims, "These documentary’s are publicly convicting their targets, it makes them guilty till proven innocent."

The rapper then shared a photo showing images of Bill Cosby, Jeffrey Epstein, Kevin Spacey, Harvey Weinstein, R. Kelly and Donald Trump ... with "Jail" written on the black men and "Walk" on the white men. He captioned it, "You think Oprah don’t notice how this sh*t is playing out?"

Of course, 50 and Oprah have feuded in the past ... when she criticized lyrics in rap music and he disparaged her audience. They seemingly smoothed things over in a 2012 TV interview, but with Fiddy ... any beef can be renewed.

A pit bull owned by NFL star Trent Williams killed a neighbor's 3-year-old black lab -- and while the neighbor is PISSED -- Williams says it's no big deal.

Linda Flowers says her beloved dog, Sandy, was attacked and dragged through a fence by one of 9 pitbulls at Williams' Missouri City, TX home, ripping its body to shreds in the process.

Flowers tells TMZ Sports ... Sandy was docile and friendly and is clearly the victim in the situation. She believes Williams is running a dangerous pit bull mastiff kennel out of his backyard in a residential community with families and children.

Williams, however, told FOX 5 in D.C. he doesn't understand why the mauling is such a big deal ... saying it's "dogs doing what dogs do."

Williams claims his dogs did nothing wrong -- and it was Sandy who broke into his yard and attacked his dogs first.

We've learned Missouri City PD responded to the scene -- but kicked the case over to animal control, which is currently investigating.

No arrests have been made and no charges filed at this time.

31-year old Williams is a star for the Redskins -- the #4 overall pick in 2010 is a 7-time Pro Bowler and signed a 5-year, $66 million contract in 2015.