Controversial S#!T

Antonio Brown is adamant his apology letter to the Hollywood PD was sincere -- part of a larger apology mission -- and he's hoping he can get back in the NFL.

We got Brown at one of the hottest restaurants in Miami, Prime 112, and he told our photog he's had an epiphany and he's trying to make amends with everyone he's hurt recently, including the cops.

The Hollywood Police Dept. recently cut ties with Brown, returning a donation he made to the Dept.'s youth flag football league. As we reported, Brown berated cops who responded to an altercation he was having with his baby mama.

AB wrote an emotional letter to the Hollywood PD for being a massive headache the last few months.

Brown wrote an emotional letter to the police, asking for forgiveness ... "To everyone who I may have offended or Disrespected at the @hollywoodflpd Of the state of Florida, I would like to sincerely give you all my apology from the top and bottom of my heart."\

The P.D. made it clear ... "We will not take money from a donor that we cannot have our youth be proud of or represent the organization."

As for the NFL, Brown suggests there are teams he's targeting who might be interested -- but he stopped short of naming names.

Jay-Z is once again explaining why his partnership with the NFL is actually for the same cause Colin Kaepernick fights for ... it's just the approach that's different.

Jigga sat down with the NYT this weekend ahead of Super Bowl LIV and re-defended his collaboration with the league, which many saw as a betrayal of Kap and everything he stood for. Jay also took a lot of heat at first, but he seems okay with it for the bigger picture.

He tells the paper, "As long as real people are being hurt and marginalized and losing family members, then yes, I can take a couple rounds of negative press," going on to insist he is still fighting for people of color -- only now, from a position of strength and influence.

Case in point ... Sunday's broadcast will apparently include a PSA-type video -- one in a series, per NYT -- that aims to tell the stories of black men and boys killed by cops.

It'll probably be similar to the PSA Malcolm Jenkins and Roc Nation teamed up to produce, which was called "Everyone's Child." Unclear if this new vid is part of the same "Responsibility Program," but chances are it falls under the same umbrella.

Getting back to Kaepernick though, Jay kinda sticks to his guns in this new interview as far as addressing the guy's situation ... acknowledging he was done dirty by the league, but also strongly suggesting it's time to move forward and start looking for new solutions.

Jay says, "No one is saying he hasn’t been done wrong. He was done wrong. I would understand if it was three months ago. But it was three years ago and someone needs to say, ‘What do we do now -- because people are still dying?'"

Antonio Brown is issuing another apology for his behavior ... this time writing an emotional letter to the Hollywood PD for being a massive headache the last few months.

"To everyone who I may have offended or Disrespected at the @hollywoodflpd Of the state of Florida, I would like to sincerely give you all my apology from the top and bottom of my heart," AB wrote.

"And as a human being and an professional athlete I can honestly say that my emotions truly did cloud my better Judgment, When you all were only there to help me."

Brown has had run-in after run-in with the HPD cops ... and he even filmed himself berating officers while they were trying to ease a tense standoff between the former All-Pro and his baby mama a few weeks ago.

In fact, things got so bad, the HPD issued a statement saying they were cutting ALL ties with the guy ... and returned a donation check he had made to the police department's youth flag football league.

"We will not take money from a donor that we cannot have our youth be proud of or represent our organization," the cops said at the time.

Things eventually ended with Brown in HPD custody ... cops were forced to issue an arrest warrant for the 31-year-old after he was accused of attacking a moving truck driver outside of his Florida home last week.

But now, Brown -- who's out of jail and letting his criminal case play out in the courts -- is begging for forgiveness ... writing, "Thanks to you all who sincerely accept my Sincere apology. And we must all know that God is a Forgiving God."

Mase, one of Diddy's biggest Bad Boy Records stars, is coming for blood ... calling the mogul a hypocrite for his Grammys speech, and for keeping him under a horrible contract.

The "Mo Money, Mo Problems" rapper went off on Diddy Friday saying it's ironic Bad Boy's honcho is calling on black artists to take back control of their art -- because Mase claims Diddy keeps his own artists "enslaved," purposely starves them and subjects them to his "horrendous business model."

On a personal level, Mase is pissed about the $20k he says Diddy paid him for his publishing rights more than 20 years ago, when he debuted at the age of 19.

As you know ... Diddy gave a 50-minute speech while accepting an Industry Icon award at Clive Davis' pre-Grammy gala at the Beverly Hilton Hotel. He was also at Jay-Z's Roc Nation brunch earlier that day, toasting black billionaires and black excellence.

None of this sat well with Mase, who said he offered Diddy $2 million in cash just a few days ago to buy back his catalog. He claims Diddy told him he had to match a European man's offer and "that would be the only way I can get it back."

Mase -- who signed with Bad Boy in 1996, retired in 1999 and returned in 2004 -- added, "You bought it for about 20k & I offered you 2m in cash. This is not black excellence at all. When your own race is enslaving us. If it's about us owning, it can't be about us owning each other. No More Hiding Behind 'Love.' U CHANGED? GIVE THE ARTIST BACK THEIR $$$$. So they can take care of their families."

Mase has feuded with Diddy in the past ... and in 2009 Mase tried getting out of his deal with the label.

Brooklyn MC Sauce Money, who's worked with Diddy and Jay-Z, also took a swipe ... saying he watched Diddy's speech, and "I respect the message, just not coming from him."

We've reached out to Diddy's camp for comment, but so far no word back.

Damn. Can we just run it back ...

Gunshots rang out at Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida when an SUV led authorities on a wild car chase after breaching 2 security checkpoints.

It all went down Friday morning in Palm Beach, when a black SUV heading toward the main entrance breached both checkpoints, leading Florida Highway Patrol on a pursuit that ended with officials firing shots.

The Palm Beach Sheriff's Office says the car chase is over and 2 people are now in custody. The Sheriff says they're still figuring out which agency pulled the trigger. A police helicopter was also involved in the pursuit.

It's pretty crazy ... President Trump and Melania are scheduled to depart the White House for Mar-a-Lago later this afternoon, but it's unclear if the shooting will affect their travel schedule.

The FBI says it's aware of the incident and agents are responding.

Cody Bellinger says he wasn't laughing when Justin Verlander made a remark about the Astros' "technology" at an awards ceremony Saturday ... telling TMZ Sports, "It ain't funny to me."

Verlander reportedly went on stage at the annual Baseball Writers' Association of America banquet in NY over the weekend and made a comment about how his Houston squad was "technologically and analytically advanced."

It's unclear if Verlander made the remark as a joke in the wake of the team's cheating scandal ... but it reportedly drew laughter -- and according to at least one witness, ex-Yankees pitcher CC Sabathia was PISSED over it all.

When we got Bellinger out in NY just a day after the ceremony on Sunday ... he said he was feeling the same way as Sabathia -- telling us, "It ain't funny to me and it wasn't funny to CC."

Of course, Bellinger's Dodgers and Sabathia's Yankees both suffered playoff losses to the Astros the last few seasons -- years in which Houston was busted for illegally stealing signs from opponents.

PETA has its own Super Bowl spot, featuring animated animals taking a knee to protest injustice, but the Colin Kaepernick vibes were too strong to get network approval ... at least that's what PETA thinks.

The animal rights org tells TMZ ... it wanted to make a commercial calling for an end to speciesism -- to "challenge people to expand their concept of injustice to include humans' injustice against other species."

Translation: hey, homo sapiens, quit killing other species.

PETA says the ad agency it hired nailed it with a Kaepernick-inspired theme that features a hummed version of the Star Spangled Banner over images of animals taking a knee. It says the spot was pitched last month to FOX ... which is airing Super Bowl LIV.

PETA says things seemed promising -- a FOX commercial clearance rep replied on December 30 saying the network received the spot and was reviewing it. Again on January 3, PETA says it was told the ad was still being discussed internally, and FOX would have an answer ASAP.

However, despite multiple follow-ups ... PETA says it hasn't heard a peep since then. As for why? PETA claims its ad agency told them the NFL was pressuring FOX to reject the spot.

PETA also claims multiple requests to run the ad in local FOX markets -- either before or after the Super Bowl -- have also gone unanswered.

We've reached out to FOX, no word back so far ... and no comment from the NFL. However, a source close to the league says it's ultimately up to the network carrying the game, not the NFL, to approve or reject all ads.

Punxsutawney Phil isn't going anywhere, except maybe back in his hole on Groundhog Day to signal 6 more weeks of winter ... so says the congressman representing the city of Punxsutawney.

Rep. Glenn Thompson tells TMZ ... PETA calling for the famous Pennsylvania groundhog to be retired and replaced by an AI robot is crazy and goes against something he strives for -- job creation.

Thompson's half-joking about supporting Phil's right to work like any other resident of Punxsutawney, but he's serious about what the groundhog means to the city and its economy ... and calls PETA's suggestion "crazy" and misguided.

The animal rights organization argues groundhogs -- which are mostly solitary animals -- are subjected to "great stress" during the February 2 tradition and claims an artificially intelligent robot that could actually predict the weather would be better for all parties.

NY Knicks player Marcus Morris is backpedaling in a BIG way after using anti-women insults to attack Grizzlies player Jae Crowder.

Morris ripped Crowder for stealing the ball and shooting a 3 with just seconds to go in a 127 to 106 ass-kicking at Madison Square Garden ... saying the move was "unprofessional."

And, that's when the sexist insults began to fly ...

"I think dude is just, he plays the game a different way. A lot of female tendencies on the court," Morris said following Wednesday night's game.

"Flopping, throwing his head back the entire game. It’s a man’s game and you just get tired of it. Obviously, at the end that was very unprofessional."

There's more ... "His game is soft. He’s soft. That’s how he carries [himself]. It’s just very woman-like."

Yeeesh.

Obviously, people were PISSED at Morris for the ridiculous comments ... and he issued an apology a short time later on social media.

"I apologize for using the term 'female tendencies,'" Morris said ... "I have the upmost respect for women and everything they mean to us."

Maybe a woman should have copy edited his statement ... he would have known the word is "utmost" not "upmost."

Anyway, he continued ... "It was a Heat of the moment response and I never intended for any Women to feel as though in anyway I’m disrespecting them."

"Again I apologize with my comments."

The comedian who openly celebrated Kobe Bryant's death is triggering a wave of threats aimed at the comedy club where he was supposed to perform ... forcing cancellations.

Law enforcement sources tell TMZ ... Ari Shaffir was scheduled to do stand-up at the New York Comedy Club Tuesday night at 9:15 PM, but the club was forced to call cops after getting multiple phoned-in threats.

Our sources say someone called threatening to shoot up the place because a comedian scheduled to perform there made a vile joke about Kobe. We're told the caller didn't mention Shaffir by name, but it's no secret -- he DID stir anger just hours after Kobe's death.

Our law enforcement sources say the shows were canceled by the club due to numerous threatening calls.

The day Kobe died, Shaffir tweeted a selfie video, saying, "Kobe Bryant died 23 years too late today. He got away with rape because all the Hollywood liberals who attack comedy enjoy rooting for the Lakers more than they dislike rape. Big ups to the hero who forgot to gas up his chopper. I hate the Lakers. What a great day!"

Yeah, pretty vile.

Shaffir posted another video later and doubled down, saying Kobe's death was a "good story" because "the guy got away with rape." Shaffir deleted it, but the damage was done.

We're told the club filed a complaint with the NYPD for aggravated harassment 25 minutes before Shaffir's set time. No arrests have been made and the case is still under investigation.

Shaffir, who swiftly got dropped by his talent agency after the Instagram video, later took to Instagram to explain his video in epic failure.

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell says the league is ready, willing and able to help Antonio Brown get his life back on track ... saying, "We are confident that can happen."

AB's life has been a mess over the past several months -- he's been fired from multiple NFL teams, gone to war with the mother of his children and most recently, he was arrested for allegedly attacking a moving truck driver.

Brown's estranged girlfriend has said publicly that she's concerned about Antonio's mental health -- and it seems like Goodell and the NFL agree that he needs help ASAP.

During a media event in Miami on Wednesday for Super Bowl LIV, Goodell was asked about the league's efforts to help the embattled WR ... and he insisted the NFL is actively involved.

"I think the first thing for all of us is to think about the wellbeing of Antonio. To understand what Antonio's going through," Goodell said.

"We don't talk about the wellness of our players publicly but I would tell you that you can be assured that the NFL and the NFL Players Association have a tremendous amount of resources that are available to all players. They are going to be made available to Antonio."

Goodell continued ... "We want to help get him on the right track and get him in a position where he is in the zone where he thinks he can be successful in life."

"We are confident that can happen. We want to work to do that and for our standpoint, that's the first step ... and the first step is making sure we're doing everything to help Antonio."

For his part, AB is still training as if he'll get another shot to play pro football -- though it seems unlikely at this point.

During the media event, Goodell also addressed the investigation into the New England Patriots for illegally videotaping the Cincinnati Bengals during a 2019 regular-season game.

Goodell said, "Our responsibility is to make sure we're being extremely thorough. Our team has been on it. We've been focused on this. We're going to get it right. And when we come to a conclusion we'll certainly make sure that people are aware of it."

NFL D-lineman Rakeem Nunez-Roches says his life has been turned upside down over a "completely false" story about him abandoning a dog ... saying he's been forced to move due to serious threats.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers player is accused of leaving his Cane Corso, Jitterbug, on the side of a Florida road last month ... where it was later found tired, hungry and alone.

The Buccaneers have announced they're investigating the incident ... but in a lengthy statement Wednesday, Nunez-Roches says he had nothing to do with the abandonment.

"We would never abandon a dog," Nunez-Roches says. "We were expecting our first baby, so we thought it would be safer to have only smaller dogs in the house."

"Jitterbug is a Cane Corso, which is an Italian Mastiff and not a Pit Bull as was incorrectly reported, and we gave her to a family that wanted one. We have no idea how she ended up in an animal shelter, but we absolutely did not and would never abandon her or any other dog."

Nunez-Roches says the allegations caused him to receive so many violent threats ... he was forced to call the cops and physically change his address.

"We love and have taken care of dogs for years," Nunez-Roches says. "But, because a few overzealous people mistakenly assumed we had abandoned a dog that was no longer ours, we have received threats and had our reputations smeared in the media."

Nunez-Roches says the Tampa Police Department is now handling the case ... and he says he wants retractions from people who made the accusations against him.

"Hopefully the groups who falsely accused us ... realize their mistake and we can all go back to living normal lives and taking care of our dogs and other pets."

As for Jitterbug, the dog was adopted shortly after it was found in Florida ... and we're told it's doing well and is very happy in its new home.

Aaron Hernandez's fiancee says she doesn't know if the ex-NFL star was gay -- as suggested in a new Netflix docuseries -- but she wouldn't have cared if he was.

"I wouldn't have loved him any differently," Shayanna Jenkins said on "Good Morning America" ... "I would have understood."

The Netflix series, "Killer Inside: The Mind of Aaron Hernandez" features claims from Aaron's high school teammate, Dennis SanSoucie, who said the two had a sexual relationship before going to college.

Jenkins didn't dispute the claim -- but said it's unfair to discuss someone's sexuality when that person isn't around to have a say.

"Although I had a child with Aaron, I can't tell you how he was feeling inside," Jenkins said.

"If he did feel that way, or if he felt the urge, I wish that I was told. I wish that he would have told me because I wouldn't have loved him any differently. I would have understood. It's not shameful."

She continued, "I think it's a beautiful thing. I just wish I was able to tell him that."

Of course, Hernandez took his own life in his prison cell back in 2017 -- where he was serving time for the 2013 murder of Odin Lloyd.

Meghan Markle and Prince Harry aren't going to be left penniless -- FAR from it actually, according to Ryan Seacrest and Mark Cuban ... so long as they follow this advice.

The two titans of industry -- who've successfully forged their own paths in entertainment and sports, and branded themselves masterfully -- sat down for the new, TMZ/FOX special, "Harry & Meghan: The Royals In Crisis," to share their thoughts on PH and MM's financial future in entertainment.

As you might've heard, the former Royals are kinda on their own now. And, life ain't free!!!

The question ... can they make an honest buck, and if so, how? Seacrest says it all depends on what they have to offer, which may come as a surprise to both the public and maybe even themselves, especially Harry. Bottom line, RS thinks there's untapped potential there.

Mark Cuban is right there with him ... saying, if Har and Meg play their cards right, they could be just as successful and wealthy as the Obamas, if not more so.

FOX's one-hour special gets into more than just what lies ahead for them though ... it's also a deep dive into what got them here to begin with. Piers Morgan has thoughts on that.

Check it out ... he makes no bones about how he believes Meghan manipulated her way to the top, only to strip his country's Prince away from his people and family. Oof, harsh!

Renowned writer Afua Hirsch has a different take, however, with which many others agree.

Team Roc, Roc Nation's philanthropic arm, is releasing video it says graphically illustrates the inhumane conditions inside a notorious Mississippi penitentiary ... as Yo Gotti continues fighting for federal assistance.

These videos and photos were shot by inmates using contraband phones, according to Team Roc. The images include what looks like a knife fight between 2 prisoners, gruesome injuries and horrific filth inside a cell.

TMZ broke the story ... Yo Gotti, with Team Roc's support, is taking legal action over the conditions seen in the video. Most recently, they've filed for an emergency protective order in federal court -- on behalf of dozens of inmates -- and they've now added some of these photos to that filing.