Controversial S#!T

Colin Kaepernick has some thoughts on the United States taking out a top Iranian officer with a drone strike ... calling it classic American imperialism via our military.

The ex-NFL quarterback posted some scathing remarks Saturday about the international move that's got everyone here at home worried about a so-called World War III -- and he didn't hold back in criticizing it to the max, likening it to an attack on people of color.

Colin wrote on Twitter, "There is nothing new about American terrorist attacks against Black and Brown people for the expansion of American imperialism." He didn't stop there.

CK adds the perceived escalation of tensions has been resorted to in the U.S.A.'s playbook time and again. He says, "America has always sanctioned and besieged Black and Brown bodies both at home and abroad. America militarism is the weapon wielded by American imperialism, to enforce its policing and plundering of the non white world."

Trump's order to kill Qasem Soleimani has gotten mixed reactions -- with some calling it necessary and imminent, as the guy is said to have been responsible for taking American lives while waging destructive and deadly tactics there in the Middle East and elsewhere.

Others say Donald Trump's administration acted in haste by signing off on the strike, not considering the ramifications and the possibility of war. Congress hasn't even been formally briefed yet.

Terry Gilliam let it rip in a no-holds-barred interview in which he BLASTS #MeToo, defends white men "taking blame" ... and misidentified his gender and race in jest.

The director, writer and former member of the Monty Python comedy team recently sat down for an interview with The Independent, and rather than discuss his new movie ... more so, he wanted to air out his grievances over being a victimized white male in 2020.

Reading the entire thing in full is worth it, but just to give you a snapshot of Terry's stance on social issues ... he says stuff like #MeToo is nothing more than a blame game.

Of a female character in his flick, "The Man Who Killed Don Quixote," who becomes an escort, he says ... "In the age of #MeToo, here’s a girl who takes responsibility for her state. Whatever happened in this character’s life, she’s not accusing anybody."

He goes on ... "We’re living in a time where there’s always somebody responsible for your failures, and I don’t like this. I want people to take responsibility and not just constantly point a finger at somebody else, saying, 'You’ve ruined my life.'"

Then, Terry moves on to the alleged victims of Harvey Weinstein, many of whom he dubs "ambitious adults" who made choices while trying to come up in the industry.

Of the disgraced movie mogul, Terry says ... "There are many victims in Harvey’s life, and I feel sympathy for them, but then, Hollywood is full of very ambitious people who are adults and they make choices." Terry worked with HW in 2005 for 'The Brothers Grimm."

Harvey Weinstein will go on trial next week for sexual assault, and as fierce as the prosecutor has been ... Weinstein's lawyers have their counterattack planned.

Weinstein's lead attorney, Donna Rotunno, tells TMZ, the defense will attempt to pick apart the testimony of the alleged victims by making what she calls a "common sense" argument -- that people who get assaulted don't maintain contact with the perpetrator. Rotunno says she has text messages and proof of subsequent interactions that support their position.

We know prosecutors will call a psychiatrist who will testify that it's common for sexual assault victims to delay in reporting the crime and they will often continue to interact with their assailant.

Ron Jaworski is praising the Eagles for NOT signing Antonio Brown when they were down in the dumps this year ... telling TMZ Sports that move could have been a train wreck.

"Short term, it might have been a good move," Jaws says. "But, I think long-term, it could've have been disastrous."

Jaws says he certainly considered the idea of his ex-team adding the troubled superstar ... especially when Philly was 5-7 and its wideouts were dropping like flies due to injuries.

But, Jaworski tells us once he really broke it down ... he realized the move could have SERIOUSLY damaged the Eagles' locker room.

"Antonio Brown is a fantastic football player, but he's also an incredible distraction," Ron says.

"And, when you build your team on guys of high character and team focus, it's hard to bring an outsider in, despite all that talent, and think he's going to integrate into your culture in a short period of time."

It appears Jaws -- and the Eagles' brass, for that matter -- made the right call, 'cause the team ended up winning the NFC East without Brown ... and has a real shot to beat the Seattle Seahawks in their Wild Card game Sunday.

As for that matchup, Jaworski tells us he's confident Carson Wentz can replicate what Nick Foles has previously done for the team in the playoffs -- saying CW is more physically gifted than the Super Bowl LII MVP.

The 2 men who were featured in "Leaving Neverland" who accused Michael Jackson of molesting them as children have just won a huge legal victory ... because a California appeals court has just given them the right to sue for sexual abuse.

A trial judge threw out the cases of James Safechuck and Wade Robson, on grounds they waited too long to file their claim. When they filed their lawsuits, California law did not support their claim, because the statute of limitations required them to file before they turned 26. At the time they filed, Robson was 30 and Safechuck was 36.

But, a new law took effect on January 1, 2020, which allows sexual abuse victims to sue until they're 40. A California appeals court just ruled the new law allows both Robson and Safechuck to have their cases tried -- presumably before a jury.

It's a huge reversal of fortune. Up till now, the MJ companies have been able to fend off these claims based on the statute of limitations, but that's all changed as of New Year's Day.

"To me, Alabama was the best team but they aren't gonna be playing in the championship."

That's legendary college football coach Lou Holtz telling TMZ Sports he believes the BEST team in the country will NOT be playing on Jan. 13 ... and it all comes down to luck.

Unclear why Holtz believes The Tide got unlucky during the 2019 season, but it seems pretty clear he thinks they're the most talented squad.

Bama finished the season with an 11-2 record ... losing to LSU and Auburn.

When they played LSU, star QB Tua Tagovailoa was playing with a banged-up ankle, but the team as a whole simply got outplayed.

As for the Auburn game, Tua had suffered a season-ending hip injury before that game ... and Bama was playing with their #2 QB Mac Jones. They lost 48-45.

Bama went on to crush Michigan in the Citrus Bowl in a 35-16 shellacking.

So, is Holtz saying a healthy Tua gets Bama to the Natty? Maybe ... since Bama played in the National Championship game last season and won the title with Tua the year before.

There's more ... Holtz also talks about why he thinks Joe Burrow will go #1 in the NFL Draft and reflects on why his former Notre Dame star WR Rocket Ismail could be considered the greatest college football player he's ever seen.

The United States Marine Corps is taking action against an emerging threat from China ... by keeping its wildly popular app, TikTok, away from Marines.

If you didn't know ... both the Army and Navy have banned soldiers from using the Chinese-owned video-sharing service on government phones because it's been deemed a cybersecurity threat by officials.

The Marines are following suit, TMZ has learned, for the same reason. Capt. Hector Alejandro of the Marine Forces Cyberspace Command tells us TikTok has also been blocked from its government-issued mobile devices.

He adds ... "This decision is consistent with our efforts to proactively address existing and emerging threats as we secure and defend our network."

The crux of the issue -- TikTok's Chinese ownership has politicians and military officials concerned that it could be used to gather intelligence on Americans.

Because of that, the Defense Department sent a message to employees in mid-December instructing them to "be wary of applications you download, monitor your phones for unusual and unsolicited texts etc., and delete them immediately and uninstall TikTok to circumvent any exposure of personal information."

We're told the branches of the military made the decision to block TikTok shortly afterward.

Ricki Lake's sporting a huge grin just one day after revealing her struggle with hair loss and depression ... and it's all thanks to a flood of support.

We got the "Hairspray" star and former talk show host Thursday at LAX to get her response to her revelation on New Year's Day, about struggling with hair loss for most of her adult life.

You'll recall Ricki posted a picture on Instagram and revealed the new buzz-cut hairdo. The story behind the new hairdo was both heart-wrenching and inspiring. As we reported ... Ricki said struggling through decades of hair loss was "debilitating, embarrassing, painful, scary, depressing" and "lonely." It got so bad ... Ricki says she felt suicidal over it.

Damon Dash says Aaliyah wanted absolutely nothing to do with R. Kelly after they pulled the plug on their controversial marriage back in the day.

TMZ's obtained this clip of Damon's interview on the soon-to-be-released Lifetime documentary, "Surviving R. Kelly Part II: The Reckoning" ... and the music insider makes some bombshell revelations about Aaliyah's life after Kelly.

Damon famously dated Aaliyah after she split from R. Kelly ... and now he says the singer wanted to keep Kelly "the f*** away" from her following the annulment.

As we've reported ... R. Kelly's former tour manager, Demetrius Smith, says he unwittingly and regretfully helped Kelly and Aaliyah tie the knot, by getting the 15-year-old a fake ID the day before the wedding ... a claim R. Kelly just denied in court.

Damon says it's disgusting Kelly would marry a child.

Not much is known about Aaliyah's feelings regarding Kelly -- she died way too young -- so Damon's claims are pretty shocking.

BTW ... the new doc drops Thursday on Lifetime.

Nick Gordon -- the boyfriend of Bobbi Kristina Brown who was found legally responsible for her death -- has died in Florida ... TMZ has learned.

Nick's brother, Jack Walker Jr., shared the news Wednesday by writing, "GOD WHY I DID I HAVE TO LOSE MY BROTHER ON NEW YEARS," and adding ... "All I can do is cry." He later shared a tribute post with several photos of himself with Nick.

It appears Gordon was hospitalized for a short time before his death ... Walker says he was at his brother's bedside and spoke to him in his final moments. Reports say Gordon died of a suspected drug overdose.

As you'll recall ... Gordon and a friend found Whitney Houston and Bobby Brown's daughter face down in a bathtub on January 31, 2015, and she was placed in an induced coma. Brown suffered irreversible brain damage and remained unresponsive, and passed away in hospice care on July 26, 2015.

John Boyega is leaving 2019 in a blaze of glory ... defending himself to the death after he was accused of being sexist over a joke he cracked about his female costar, Daisy Ridley.

The 'Star Wars' actor responded to a ton of mega fans Tuesday after a screenshot of a comment he recently left on someone's Instagram post went viral -- which shows him saying, "it's not about who she kisses but who eventually lays the pipe. You are a genius."

His comment was in response to some rando who made light of the fact John's character, Finn, doesn't get the girl at the end of 'Rise of Skywalker.' If you haven't seen it, this is a spoiler ... Rey kisses/falls for Kylo Ren and Finn's apparent love for her goes unrequited.

After his pipe joke, JB got blown up (metaphorically speaking) on Twitter, with people calling him misogynistic, sexist and bitter over Finn's fate and the end of the franchise. He's been hitting back, though, making fun of everyone who's taking it so damn seriously.

He even put up a meme mocking Rey and Kylo Ren's "romance," which mostly shows them fighting and Rey in complete distress. It appears to be in good fun, but folks are still coming for him over what many perceive to be a remark made in bad taste and harmful.

Still, he kinda doubled down on his pipe line, but later suggested he was just talking about the characters in a joking manner, and didn't mean for it to translate to real life. In response to one user, he wrote ... "i was talking about Rey from Star Wars. When did I speak about women in general? Where did I even mention holes? ... Bye now."

People have noted John doesn't have any more 'Star Wars' obligations, and that might be why he's speaking so freely. Either way ... the guy obviously doesn't care about Reylo shippers, or those easily offended as the decade comes to an end.

DJ Paul says he and his rap group partners aren't pivoting away from talking drugs in their songs -- and to the kids who take their word as gospel ... he's telling 'em to wise up.

We ran into the Three 6 Mafia MC Monday at LAX -- this just a few days after his label mate, Juicy J, said T6M were hitting the road for a new tour in 2020 ... while, in the same breath, apologizing if he ever inspired anyone to do drugs in the wake of Juice WRLD's death.

DJP confirmed the gang was getting ready to head out on tour soon after a handful of shows this year, but on the subject of drugs ... he was less remorseful than Juicy was on Twitter.

According to Paul, people will do whatever they want regardless of whether a song hypes up drug use or not -- and, of course, Three 6 Mafia's no stranger to the topic in their music. Still ... DJ Paul says just 'cause T6M's talking about it, it doesn't count as a cosign, per se.

He actually acknowledges if one can stay off drugs ... that's obviously the best way to go. Our camera guy pushes back a bit though, noting the group does appear to glorify drugs, and by extension ... have probably nudged a lot of young fans in that direction as a result.

Check it out ... Paul fires back with a pretty interesting analogy to that argument, saying he sees a lot of his favorite actors doing crazy s**t on screen all the time. That doesn't mean he's about to start copying them out of sheer fandom, though -- hear that, kids?

Harvey Weinstein's embroiled in multiple court cases that could land him in prison, so maybe it's not surprising he's focusing on the simple things in life ... like a bowl or 2 of ice cream.

The former movie mogul was at the Molly Pitcher Inn in Red Bank, New Jersey Saturday looking low-key in a grey hoodie. He sat alone, eating not one but 2 ice cream sundaes as he perused some paperwork.

An eyewitness tells us Weinstein used a walker as he got to his feet and left. A source close to Weinstein tells us he was at the hotel for a vacation and to get some rest and relaxation.

TMZ broke the story ... Weinstein got back surgery earlier this month, a procedure called a bilateral laminectomy. We're told the whole thing lasted around 3 hours. The surgery -- better known as decompression surgery -- enlarges the spinal canal to relieve pressure on the spinal cord or nerves.

As we reported ... Harvey could barely walk on his own when he got to court just days before his surgery ... we're told the hope is he'll be fully recovered in a few more weeks.

You'd think Rudy Giuliani would wanna be as far away from anything Ukrainian right now, but even amid Trump's impeachment ... he's coyzing up with one and talking business.

The President's personal lawyer was spotted Sunday at the Breakers Hotel in Palm Beach, where eyewitnesses saw him chatting it up with a couple dudes in suits who appeared to be pitching him on something, seemingly related to shipping, transportation and logistics.

Rudy and a woman he was with were flipping through literature pertaining to CDL 1000 -- a Chicago-based company that specializes in freight transport and tracking technology.

No biggie, right? Of course not, except for the fact that at one point in the presentation, Rudy was shown a slide that clearly read "Disrupt Global Trading." Nothing fishy about that!

What makes the meeting all the more intriguing is that the guy showing him this stuff comes from Ukrainian heritage himself. His name's Andrew Sobko, and he's the CEO of CDL 1000 -- he's also the son of a former Ukrainian boxing champ ... per past interviews he's done.

We called up Andrew and he said he was simply seeking Mr. Giuliani's legal advice on a business matter. However, it's also no secret Rudy's been traveling to Kyiv recently to drum up intel he hopes will clear his boss's name ahead of a looming impeachment trial.

Kanye West had a lot to reflect on a year after starting his Sunday Service -- and he did that and then some in a place you might've never thought you'd see him ... Skid Row.

Ye was in DTLA this weekend holding a Sunday Service at the Union Rescue Mission on Skid Row, which is a homeless shelter that offers food and spiritual guidance for the needy. While there with his usual choir, he got on the mic at one point to do some preaching.

He got into a lot of different topics -- including how Sunday Service itself saved him since it began a full year ago. He also talked about the homeless crisis in L.A. and elsewhere ... going on to say he's had a vision for a worldwide solution. That sounds familiar, doesn't it?

At one point, Kanye also ranted a bit about "Devil-approved" and "God-approved" subjects -- and he seemed to allude to T.I.'s highly scrutinized comments from earlier this year about how he once brought his daughter to the gynecologist to make sure she was a virgin.

Ice Cube's gone back to the drawing board with the fourth installment of "Friday" ... and he's clearly pissed.

The N.W.A. rapper revealed there's been some major beef between him and the film's production studio New Line Cinema ... for dragging its feet on green-lighting "Last Friday." The rub and possible deal-breaker ... John Witherspoon -- who plays Mr. Jones, Ice Cube's father in the film -- has died.

So, when we got Cube Friday at LAX, we asked if he'd ever considered using CGI in the film -- since Carrie Fisher's fam was okay with a Princess Leia CGI in "Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker" -- and he could not have been clearer.

"Last Friday" is the fourth and final installment of the 'Friday' franchise that kicked off in 1995. It's been about 18 years since the last 'Friday' film, and Cube says, "It's all on New Line, man." He's especially pissed cause, if New Line Cinema didn't take its sweet time, they easily would've been able to put Witherspoon in the flick.

Back in May, Cube revealed he wanted to release the film on April 26, 2020 ... but that's clearly not happening now ... if ever.