Controversial S#!T

Elizabeth Warren didn't just snub Bernie Sanders' handshake after the Democratic debate ... she got in his face and accused him of calling her a liar on national TV.

CNN released the audio of the testy exchange, which helps explain why Warren rebuffed Bernie's extended hand -- she was pissed off!

Warren storms past Joe Biden to walk up to Sanders and says, "I think you called me a liar on national TV" ... to which he replied, "What?"

After she repeats herself, Bernie says, "Let's not do it right now. You want to have that discussion, we'll have that discussion."

Bradley Whitford is calling out Stephen King for his color-blind approach to Oscar voting, saying it's ignorant and underestimates one HUGE advantage they both have: WHITE.

We talked to the 'West Wing' vet Wednesday at LAX about King's controversial tweet, reacting to movie fans and critics pissed about this year's Oscar nominees lacking diversity. In a nuthsell, King, who voted on the nominees, said he was only judging on quality ... not diversity.

Brad didn't hesitate to challenge the legendary author, telling us King should consider the fact not everyone is afforded the same opportunities in Hollywood 'cause it matters. He didn't use the phrase, but read between the lines ... he's talking about white privilege.

Alex Cora is OUT as the Boston Red Sox manager ... after both sides "mutually agreed to part ways" in light of the MLB's cheating probe.

The league's investigation findings determined Cora was the mastermind behind the Houston Astros' sign-stealing system when he was the bench coach in 2017.

Cora was with the 'Stros when they won the World Series in 2017 ... and the manager of the Red Sox when they won the Fall Classic in 2018.

The 44-year-old manager had yet to receive his punishment from the league for the scandal ... but given the fact Astros manager, A.J. Hinch, was suspended 1 year just for knowing about it, it was assumed Cora would get much worse.

The Sox didn't wait to find out Cora's fate ... releasing a statement Tuesday explaining their decision to move on.

"Today we met to discuss the Commissioner's report related to the Houston Astros investigation," the statement reads.

"Given the findings and the Commissioner's ruling, we collectively decided that it would not be possible for Alex to effectively lead the club going forward and we mutually agreed to part ways."

Meghan Markle and the other Royals need some fresh air -- so she and a few others are getting out and, seemingly, getting on with their lives ... all in good spirits too.

The Duchess of Sussex surfaced Tuesday in Vancouver -- she's reportedly living on the island across the way -- at a place called the Downtown Eastside Women's Centre, where she posed with the staff and was grinning from ear-to-ear front and center, in between everybody.

They wrote on Facebook, "Look who we had tea with today! The Duchess of Sussex, Meghan Markle, visited us today to discuss issues affecting women in the community."

The DEWC is known for helping those less fortunate in the area, while also providing food and services to women specifically. Looks like these folks do some good work -- and, obviously, their cause caught Meg's eye. She's very much about supporting these efforts.

Across the pond, her in-laws, Kate Middleton and Prince William, were also spotted out and about in Bradford, where they were leaving the local City Hall for what appears to have been some sort of flower-worthy ceremony.

They also rubbed elbows with the locals inside a restaurant where the future King tried his hand at whipping up a smoothie.

Slovenian tennis pro Dalila Jakupovic was forced to quit her qualifying match at the Australian Open on Tuesday ... after she coughed and collapsed to the court due to the air quality.

Of course, the air in Melbourne is currently considered "the worst in the world" as smoke from the wildfires has taken over the area.

Despite the chief health officer saying the air was very poor or hazardous, the qualifying round of the tournament kicked off on Tuesday ... and several players have complained about the conditions already.

Jakupovic was in the middle of the second set of her match against Stefanie Vogele when she started coughing uncontrollably and went to her knees.

“I was really scared that I would collapse," the 28-year-old said ... adding that it was unfair for players to have to play in the current conditions.

"I never had breathing problems. I actually like heat," Jakupovic added. "I just couldn't breathe anymore and I just fell on the floor."

Other tennis pros needed assistance during their matches ... including Genie Bouchard and Bernard Tomic.

Jenifer Lewis is begging climate change deniers to wake up and smell the smoke from Australia ... and believe the scientific facts she observed with her own eyes.

The "Black-ish" star was on "TMZ Live" Tuesday to make a passionate plea to save the planet from the effects of man-made pollution. She told us her recent trip to Antarctica inspired her to start speaking out -- and even write a song -- about the devastation climate change is causing around the world.

She says she spent 2-and-a-half weeks on a ship off the Antarctic coast and saw massive glaciers melting away, Jenifer told us it not only terrified her but moved the captain of her ship to tears.

Jenifer was already planning to sound the alarm when she got back to the U.S., and then the Australian wildfire news exploded around the world. She blames that tragedy on the "stupidity of humans."

Heads are rolling in USC's athletic department over the college admissions scandal and university fundraising -- a key part of Lori Loughlin and Mossimo Giannulli's defense.

The university just fired 3 officials -- CFO Steve Lopes, senior associate athletic director Ron Orr and associate athletic director Scott Jacobson. USC hasn't said why they were canned, but we've confirmed all 3 were heavily involved in fundraising efforts for Trojan athletics.

TMZ broke the story ... Mossimo wrote a check for $50k, payable directly to USC. Sources connected to the case told us the check was sent to another athletics director, Donna Heinel, who USC already fired. We're told the check was sent at the direction of the scandal ringleader, Rick Singer.

Harvey Weinstein has no shot at a fair trial in his NYC criminal case due to a tainted jury pool ... so says his defense team, which is laying blame squarely on the judge.

Weinstein's lead attorney, Donna Rotunno, tells TMZ … the disgraced Hollywood mogul has had such an immense amount of negative press coverage, she doesn't think it will be possible to find impartial jurors.

They're on the 6th day of jury selection right now, but Rotunno says all the potential candidates have likely formed opinions about Weinstein's guilt already ... due to what happened on day one.

As we reported ... Weinstein was hit with new sex crime charges in L.A. last week -- on the same day his NY trial started. His lawyers say because of the timing, the NY judge should have adjourned the case for a "cooling off period" -- a month or so -- to allow the news cycle to die down.

That didn't happen -- the judge immediately shot down their motion to adjourn, saying the L.A. charges were "next to meaningless" to the NY criminal case. As a result, Rotunno says the L.A. case is too fresh on the minds of the NY jury pool.

Welcome to the middle ground between light and shadow -- to an area where Felicity Huffman and William H. Macy's daughter finds herself in ... "The Twilight Zone."

Yes, Sophia Macy is set to appear in season 2 of the hit series recently revived by Jordan Peele. The 19-year-old, whose SAT was infamously rigged by Rick Singer and co., will make her 'Twilight' debut in an episode called "Among the Untrodden."

It'll be Sophia's third credited acting role, but they were relatively small gigs ... so, this'll definitely count as her big break -- and it couldn't come at a better time.

President Donald Trump may wanna stick to college football games ... 'cause #45 got a standing ovation once again at the College Football Playoff national championship game!!

It hasn't always been this friendly for POTUS ... he's been boo'd to hell (World Series), cheered incessantly (LSU vs. Alabama), and gotten what some would call "mixed reviews" (UFC 244).

But, the crowd was lovin' Trump on Monday night when he and First Lady Melania took the field before kickoff for the National Anthem ... with audible cheers coming from the seats.

FYI -- the reception shouldn't come as a surprise ... Trump easily won the state of Louisiana back in 2016.

LSU QB Joe Burrow has played in front of Trump once earlier this season ... and has previously said it's a "pretty cool" experience, regardless of political beliefs.

D.L. Hughley is throwing his hands up in disgust at the American electorate, because he begrudgingly admits Cardi B could win office if she's serious about politics.

It's no secret the comedian isn't a fan of President Trump and told us the fact America elected a "game show host for a president" is proof knowledge and experience in politics no longer matter at all to the public. Translation: the door's wide open for Cardi.

Just because he believes it, doesn't mean he's happy about it -- D.L. points out several other professions where you'd NEVER hire someone with zero experience ... yet, voters seem willing to put anyone in high public office.

Cardi's been touting Sen. Bernie Sanders in the Democratic race, and he's surged ahead in the Iowa polls -- so, we asked Hughley if a Sanders-Almanzar ticket would be out of the question.

Azriel Clary and her family look elated over her homecoming and committed to her recovering from her years with R. Kelly.

The singer's now ex-girlfriend took several pics of herself back with her whole fam -- mom, dad and siblings were posing and dancing in matching outfits. We knew the reunion was coming, but this is the first time we've actually seen her with her folks ... Angelo and Alice Clary. Azriel was 17 when she left to live with Kelly and Joycelyn Savage ... she's now 22.

Azriel captioned the family shots, "surprise. Let the healing process begin. Love yall and thank y'all. I even thank everyone who follows me.. because you all believed in me when I could not believe for myself." She included the hashtag #movingontobetterdays.

Her dad, Angelo, tells TMZ ... "We are just enjoying these moments right now ... enjoying being reunited as the Clarys."

We broke the story ... Azriel plans to seek professional help from a counselor to recover from the alleged abuse and trauma she suffered from Kelly. Her parents are focused on doing whatever they can to get her life back in order.

The happy reunion comes just days after Clary and Savage had a huge fight at Kelly's condo as Azriel was moving out. During the fight, Azriel claimed -- on camera -- Joycelyn had sex with her while Azriel was still a minor.

The Tigers and Tigers are set to face off in the 2020 National Championship Game on Monday ... which means one of these hunks is going home with a shiny, new trophy.

Clemson superstar Trevor Lawrence and LSU's Heisman Trophy winner, Joe Burrow, have led their teams to the biggest night of the season ... and both have looked damn good in the process.

Numbers-wise, the winner is Burrow ... who threw for 5,208 yards and 55 TDs and added 310 yards and 4 TDs on the ground ... while Lawrence threw for 3,431 yards and 36 TDs and rushed for 514 yards and 8 TDs.

While the LSU Tigers are favored to take home the hardware, Clemson's been on this stage a lot as of late ... it's the reigning national champs.

But, that's not why we're here. We can focus more on the footballs Monday night. The REAL reason we're here is to ask ... who'd you rather!?!?!

The woman who died after being taken to the hospital by NFL player Montae Nicholson passed away due to an accidental fentanyl overdose ... TMZ Sports has learned.

We broke the story, back on Nov. 14, Nicholson and a friend found 21-year-old Julia Crabbe "foaming at the mouth" in Nicholson's Ashburn, Virginia home after a night out.

According to police documents, Nicholson and the friend took Crabbe to a nearby hospital ... where she was later pronounced dead.

Now, TMZ Sports has learned Crabbe's death has been ruled an accident ... a spokesperson for the county medical examiner tells us Crabbe died of "fentanyl intoxication."

FYI, the CDC characterizes fentanyl as an opioid pain reliever that is "50 to 100 times more potent than morphine."

The MLB just laid the hammer down on the Astros over sign-stealing allegations ... suspending manager A.J. Hinch for 1 YEAR -- and hitting the team with all kinds of other punishments for cheating.

MLB commish Rob Manfred just made the announcement ... saying the league found the Astros DID, in fact, steal signs from opponents beginning in the 2017 season.

Per Manfred, the league interviewed 68 witnesses -- including 23 current and former Astros players -- and found the cheating allegations to be credible.

As part of the punishment, Manfred announced 1-year suspensions for both Hinch and general manager Jeff Luhnow ... as well as a fine of $5 MILLION AND the loss of draft picks.

Manfred said the Astros will be forced to give up their first AND second-round picks in both the 2020 and 2021 drafts.

Per the league's report, the Astros used a complicated scheme where they filmed signs, decoded them in a separate room and relayed the upcoming pitches to batters by banging on dugout trash cans.

The report says former Astros bench coach and current Red Sox manager, Alex Cora, was the mastermind behind all the cheating.

Donald Trump delivered a classy, gracious message to Cory Booker upon hearing the NJ Senator was no longer running for president -- just kidding! He taunted Booker so hard, he should get a 15-yard penalty.

POTUS fired off a tweet minutes after Booker announced he was suspending his campaign, saying ... "Really Big Breaking News (Kidding): Booker, who was in zero polling territory, just dropped out of the Democrat Presidential Primary Race."

Trump sarcastically added ... "Now I can rest easy tonight. I was sooo concerned that I would someday have to go head to head with him!"