Controversial S#!T

Eddie Murphy made a crack on 'SNL' at Bill Cosby's expense -- and the incarcerated comedian didn't appreciate it one bit ... with his rep calling Ed a "Slave" to Tinseltown.

Cosby's rep, Andrew Wyatt, posted a scathing response Sunday to Eddie's joke -- and it's pretty brutal. Wyatt, speaking on behalf of Bill, writes ... "Mr. Cosby became the first Black to win an Emmy for his role in I Spy and Mr. Cosby broke color barriers in the Entertainment Industry, so that Blacks like Eddie Murphy, Dave Chappell, Kevin Hart and et al., could have an opportunity to showcase their talents for many generations to come."

He went on ... "It is sad that Mr. Murphy would take this glorious moment of returning to SNL and make disparaging remarks against Mr. Cosby," going on to add, "One would think that Mr. Murphy was given his freedom to leave the plantation, so that he could make his own decisions; but he decided to sell himself back to being a Hollywood Slave."

Wyatt continues by comparing Eddie to vaudevillian actor Stepin Fetchit, and said "cooning" equals the destruction of black men in Hollywood. Then ... he offered a truce of sorts.

The guy invites Eddie to meet with Bill in hopes of "having a meeting of the minds" to help the black community instead of tearing it down -- something BC apparently thinks Eddie is doing by taking shots at him on national television.

ICYMI, Eddie joked if you would've told him 30 years ago he'd be this stay-at-home dad like he is now with so many kids (10 of 'em) while the Cos himself was in jail ... he would've taken that bet. He then imitated Cosby's voice, calling himself "America's Dad."

Pete Wentz gives the third in the 'Star Wars' trilogy his stamp of approval, but after a 42-year journey amassing millions of fans and billions of dollars ... he doesn't expect everyone to agree.

The Fall Out Boy bassist was out in Studio City, and we got him shortly after he took in 'The Rise of Skywalker' ... which he tells us he liked a lot, and calls "an amazing fairy tale."

Pete does admit there were some parts of the film he wasn't totally into, but settles on it being "pretty darn good" ... which is much better than what many folks felt about 'The Last Jedi.'

Wentz addresses that too, telling us "spoiled" fans should consider themselves lucky to be debating the quality of new 'Star Wars' projects -- and whether the partnership with Disney helped or hurt them -- because when he was a kid ... all of this seemed unimaginable.

He also urges fans to have fun while debating the films with each other online and elsewhere, and if there are disagreements ... just be respectful.

Ohio State's dominant run over Michigan ain't lasting long ... so says Charles Woodson, who tells TMZ Sports the Wolverines are closing the gap soon!!

"We'll make it up," the Michigan legend says. "We'll be fine."

Of course, it's a bold statement from the NFL Hall of Famer ... 'cause Michigan is now 0-8 against the Buckeyes in the last 8 years -- and has just one win overall against its rival since 2004.

But, C-Wood is confident that reign is ending soon ... and tells us he's pretty sure Jim Harbaugh will be sticking around as head coach to see it.

As for if he'd take over if Harbaugh fails ... Woodson told us there's absolutely no way that happens.

Carrie Fisher shows up in the new 'Star Wars' movie in the flesh -- without much digital magic -- but her fam says they would've signed off on a complete CGI Princess Leia ... if it was needed.

The late actress's brother, Todd Fisher, tells TMZ ... while director J.J. Abrams and co. told them ahead of time they'd mostly be using old footage of Carrie for Leia's final appearances in 'Rise of Skywalker,' he says he wouldn't have minded a full computer-generated recreation for action sequences.

Even crazier ... Todd tells us he doesn't think his sister would've cared about a CGI rendering either. If anything, he believes she would've given her full blessing, so long as it facilitated the story, and honored the legacy of the character. Todd says, "[B]etter that than nothing."

There's more evidence Carrie would've been on board with a CGI version of herself because one already exists. Princess Leia's young face was superimposed onto another actress in the prequel to 'A New Hope' in 'Rogue One,' which filmed before Carrie died in 2016.

Wayne Brady is roasting Sarah Huckabee Sanders for making fun of Joe Biden with a stuttering joke ... calling it alarming, offensive, misinformed and ... not even funny.

We got Wayne -- who has a stutter you might not know about -- at UCB Theatre in L.A. to get his reaction to Sarah's hurtful words ... and he doesn't hold back.

Wayne says Sarah needs to shut the hell up because she has no clue how daunting a stutter can be for people who deal with speech impediments every single day ... and thinks it's disgusting she would even make a crack about it.

As you know, Sarah tried poking fun at Biden after the most recent Democratic debate, when he relayed a story about stuttering young people coming up to him and asking his advice on dealing with a stutter.

Sarah tweeted, "I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I hhave absolutely no idea what Biden is talking about" ... then quickly deleted it after she started catching tons of backlash, including from Joe himself, who pointed out how he's worked his entire life overcoming his stutter.

SHS apologized, saying she didn't know Biden had struggled with stuttering.

Anyway ... Wayne says her apology doesn't mean squat, because even if Biden didn't have a stutter, there are still plenty of people who must cope with the condition and all the difficulties it presents, so best not to go there in the first place.

Britney Spears and company mean business when anyone insinuates her conservatorship is secretly harming her ... because her people just nailed a hater with a big, fat injunction.

Britney's dad, Jamie, just got the order, prohibiting a guy named Anthony Elia from talking smack about the conservatorship. As we reported, Elia created the "Absolute Britney" blog suggesting Jamie and his team were manipulating Britney's Instagram account to make it look like she needs help when she did not ... in other words to make it look like she needs a conservatorship.

Elia went so far as to call the treatment of Britney "a human rights violation." What especially enraged Jamie ... that Elia says he came to the conclusion on a "gut feeling."

Jamie and his lawyer, Larry Stein, claimed this is defamation, pure and simple, and went to court to muzzle Elia.

The judge saw it Jamie's way and ordered Elia to immediately stop his claims ... especially those suggesting the conservatorship is harming Britney.

Tekashi 6ix9ine has more strings attached to his prison sentence, and they're aimed at helping him out ... and helping the feds out.

The rapper's been ordered by the court to enroll in an outpatient mental health program once he's free ... according to new legal docs obtained by TMZ. As we reported, his release is potentially not too far off ... as early as next August.

In addition, 6ix9ine must continue to cooperate with the U.S. Attorney's Office once he's released from prison in any ongoing investigations where he might be useful.

As for his incarceration ... there's some good news for him. The court's recommended Tekashi be placed in a correctional facility as close to New York City as possible -- so his family can easily visit him.

As we reported ... the rapper was sentenced Wednesday to 24 months in his racketeering case. However, he's already served 13 months ... so he could be out by late 2020 if all goes well for him.

Pete Buttigieg isn't apologizing for raising some serious cash at a wine cave fundraiser, despite criticism from his Democrat opponents ... because he says it's vital in the fight against Donald Trump.

Mayor Pete appeared on "TMZ Live" Friday and noted the Prez and his allies have already raised hundreds of millions of dollars and in order to keep pace for the 2020 push ... so he's not going to turn down money from ultra-rich donors. Besides ... the max the donors can fork over is $2,800.

Buttigieg says he's proud more than 700,000 people have donated to his campaign, and with big-money donations included ... the average contribution is around 30 bucks.

As for the now-famous wine cave -- which is actually more of a fancy basement -- Buttigieg says it's as remarkable as advertised ... and he's happy to have the support of the billionaires who own it. BTW, many Democrats before him have felt the same.

Robert De Niro has a very interesting item at the top of his holiday wish list -- he'd very much like a bag of poo to hit President Trump right in his face.

He doesn't say what kind, though.

"The Irishman" star revealed his desire on Michael Moore's podcast Friday, telling the documentary filmmaker ... "I'd like to see a bag of s**t right in his face. Hit him right in the face like that and let the picture go all over the world."

De Niro added ... "And, that would be the most humiliating thing because he needs to be humiliated."

The famous actor's overall point, after sifting through all the s**t talk, is he believes whichever Dem ends up taking on the Prez in 2020 needs to stand up to him ... and embarrass him as much as possible.

De Niro says this person has to "confront him and put him in his place, because the people have to see that, to see him be humiliated."

This isn't the first time Robert's gone after Donald in an audacious way ... you'll recall he dropped a "F**k Trump" at the 2018 Tony Awards, ripped him during an American Icon Awards Speech, called him crazy on CNN and has mocked him multiple times on 'SNL.'

West Point says it does NOT believe 3 cadets were trying to promote white supremacy by flashing the "OK" hand gesture at the Army vs. Navy football game ... saying it was all a "misplaced joke."

Military officials launched an investigation after the cadets were spotted using the hand gesture multiple times during the ESPN broadcast of the Dec. 14 game.

As we previously reported, the Anti-Defamation League and other watchdog groups have said the hand symbol has been co-opted by white supremacy organizations ... which is why people were shocked to see the cadets flash the sign so proudly on-air.

But now, West Point has released the findings of their investigation -- and they insist the cadets were not trying to promote a racist agenda.

Julian Edelman says the New England Patriots are NOT cheaters ... calling the new Spygate II allegations "pretty much a joke."

"We haven't even thought about it, honestly," Edelman says. "We have been thinking about other things. It's funny, but it is what it is."

The Pats are being accused of cheating after one of their staffers was caught filming the Cincinnati Bengals' sideline just days before their matchup last weekend.

The video is pretty damning ... the staffer is clearly focused on the Bengals' bench and substitution packages -- and when he was caught by Cincy officials, he sure sounded guilty.

But, Edelman went on WEEI's "The Greg Hill Show" this week and said he believes his team when it says the video package was all for a special show -- NOT to cheat.

"Do you think -- I don't know, it's ridiculous," Edelman says. "My focus is on the Buffalo Bills."

Edelman's comments come just a few days after Tom Brady downplayed the whole situation too ... with the G.O.A.T. saying the video situation is nothing more than a mere distraction.

"I don't think any player gave it one second of thought," TB12 said.

For the videographer's part, he said in a statement, "I had no intention to provide footage to football operations, I did not provide any footage, and I was never asked to do so."

Matt Barnes asked Dwyane Wade straight-up what it's like raising a gay son coming from a hyper-masculine NBA background ... and what D-Wade says is powerful stuff.

Dwyane and his wife, Gabrielle Union, have been publicly supportive of 12-year-old Zion (Wade's son from a previous relationship) over the past year ... even taking him to a Gay Pride Festival in Miami Beach last April.

So, when Wade appeared on Stephen Jackson and Barnes' "All The Smoke" podcast this week ... Matt asked Dwyane about his approach to parenting a gay son.

That's when Dwyane delivered a powerful message ... saying Zion essentially forced him to learn about accepting people for who they are.

"I had to look myself in the mirror when my son at the time was 3 years old and me and my wife started having conversations about us noticing that he wasn't on the boy vibe that Zaire [Wade's other son] was on," Wade said.

"And, I had to look myself in the mirror and say, 'What if your son come home and tell you he's gay? What are you going to do? How are you going to be? How are you going to act? It ain't about him. He knows who he is. It's about you. Who are you?'"

Wade says that conversation with himself wasn't easy ... the 37-year-old told Barnes and Jackson he grew up "ignorant" and had to lean on his wife to open his eyes.

"I grew up with the same perspective as a lot of these people out here that's a little ignorant. I grew up with a similar perspective," Wade says. "And, you meet people along the way that help you take those glasses off and put on some different ones. Look through life through a different lens. That's what my wife has been able to do. So, it's been cool."

Wade has been very vocal in defending his son and his family from critics ... and he tells Barnes and Jackson he feels a duty to be a voice for others who can't speak up the way he can.

"Everybody get used to it, man," Wade says. "This is the new normal. So if anybody different, we looked at as different. You know what I'm saying? The ones that don't understand it. The ones that don't get it. The ones that are stuck in a box. You're different. Not the people that are out here living their lives, man."

As for how his son is handling it all ... Wade said, "You want to talk about strength and courage? My 12-year-old has way more than I have."

Rep. Tulsi Gabbard is doubling down on her defiant decision to merely vote "present" to impeach President Trump ... because she firmly believes it was the right call for America.

The Congresswoman from Hawaii tells us she was making a stand by not voting yes or no ... in order to appeal to folks in the center. She says her goal is to bring unity to the country.

Gabbard elaborated though, saying she DOES want Trump out of office and, in her mind, there's a better step Congress can take to rebuke his conduct. As for getting him out of office ... she believes it should be done more conventionally ... by voting him out in 2020.

Keep in mind, Tulsi's still one of the Democratic candidates gunning for the nomination to run against Trump ... so she's taking a big gamble that her stand will pay off.

Sofia Vergara is poised to fill one of the 2 seats that are open on "America's Got Talent" ... TMZ has learned.

Sources with direct knowledge tell TMZ ... Sofia met with 'AGT' honchos Wednesday for 2 hours. She was 20 minutes late for the meeting, but that didn't dissuade the decision-makers.

Our sources say Sofia had a big audience over at NBC, from Entertainment Prez Paul Telegdy on down. There were also members of Fremantle present, which produces 'AGT.'

As you know ... Gabrielle Union and Julianne Hough were not invited back for the next installment of 'AGT.'

Our sources say although 'AGT' was top of mind, the honchos wanted to meet with Sofia on a variety of possible projects, including dramas and a possible Spanish language project -- NBC owns Telemundo.

"Modern Family" is in its last season, and we're told NBC wants to get into business with Sofia ... our sources say she's a "global star" who is an extremely versatile entertainer.

As we reported, Union has gone public, claiming 'AGT' has a toxic culture and she was fired after complaining. 'AGT' folks say they routinely rotate judges so nothing was out of the ordinary.

The next 'AGT' airs next month.

Former President Barack Obama ripped a page out of Prez Trump's trolling playbook -- or so it seemed -- by chilling on a golf course while his successor got impeached.

POTUS 44 hit up the course at Mid-Pacific Country Club Wednesday in Hawaii -- nearly 5,000 miles away from where the House of Representatives made history by voting to impeach POTUS 45 ... just the third time in U.S. history.

Okay, we doubt Obama really was trolling Trump, but think about the optics. The one thing we KNOW Trump would always rather be doing is playing golf -- so while he was making the wrong kinda history ... his nemesis flaunted his retirement swing on the links.

If it really were a troll, even Trump might tip his hat to Obama -- that is, if he weren't so busy lashing out at the Dems during his Michigan rally.

Trump's Wednesday night speech -- immediately after the impeachment vote -- included a disgusting remark about late Rep. John Dingell that implied the congressman is "looking up" from hell ... because his wife, Rep. Debbie Dingell, voted to impeach.

Tekashi 6ix9ine deserves to rot in his cell for the holidays AWAY from his loved ones, and he's got even more paying back to do after that ... so says one of his victims.

We talked to Skyy Daniels on the heels of Tekashi receiving his 2-year prison sentence Wednesday -- one of which he's already been completed -- and asked if she was pleased with the outcome. Overall, she says she's not ... but there is a silver lining in her mind.

Skyy tells us she's giddy at the fact Tekashi69 won't get to be with his family for Christmas -- something she says she couldn't even do this time last year all because of him.

If you're unfamiliar, Skyy was one of the people who got held up at gunpoint by Tekashi's Nine Trey Blood gang members -- which turned out to be an awful case of mistaken identity. They thought she and her assistant were Rap-A-Lot Records associates ... they weren't.