Controversial S#!T

Chipotle may need to start charging even more for guac -- the company is paying the largest fine EVER in a food safety case stemming from more than a thousand instances of food poisoning.

The Justice Department announced Tuesday, Chipotle's been ordered to pay a whopping $25 million fine to settle criminal charges over foodborne illness outbreaks at its restaurants.

You'll recall, more than 1,100 people across the U.S. claimed they got sick from Chipotle restaurants between 2015 and 2018. The feds charged Chipotle with 2 counts of violating the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act for selling tainted food.

According to the DOJ, Chipotle admitted to more than several instances that resulted in outbreaks. For example, in December 2015 an ill employee in Boston was ordered to continue working after vomiting inside the restaurant -- a clear violation of company policy.

The feds say 2 days later, the employee returned to work and helped package a catering order for a Boston College basketball team, whose members were among customers sickened by the outbreak.

Chipotle was also accused of failing to hold food at appropriate temperatures to prevent and control the growth of foodborne pathogens.

Aside from the 8-figure fine, the company also has to be under a food safety compliance program for 3 years.

Ticketmaster pulled a fast one on concertgoers by retroactively changing its refund policy ... so claims one of its customers in a new lawsuit.

Derek Hansen filed the class action suit claiming Ticketmaster, which is a division of Live Nation, had a policy stating customers get a refund on ticket purchases "if your event is postponed, rescheduled or canceled.”

But, according to docs, obtained by TMZ, Hansen says Ticketmaster retroactively revised its refund policy after the coronavirus outbreak forced the cancellation or postponement of most large events and public gatherings. The policy now states it'll only allow for refunds for canceled events ... which, according to the lawsuit, excludes postponed or rescheduled ones even if those delays are indefinite.

That's a problem, Hansen says, because Live Nation's president recently predicted live events will not occur again until fall 2021 at the earliest. And, in the meantime, customers like Hansen say they have to eat the money, which could be used for more important things.

Hansen claims he bought 2 tickets in February to see a Rage Against the Machine concert in Oakland originally scheduled for April. He says he unloaded almost $600 for them ... and now he's looking for a refund because the show's been indefinitely postponed.

Meghan Markle and Prince Harry pled with Thomas Markle to stop blabbing to the media before their Royal wedding ... according to text messages sent by the Sussexes.

Meghan and Harry's pleas to Thomas leading up to their nuptials have just been made public in Meghan's lawsuit against an English tabloid, and the text messages spell out the family drama bubbling over before the ceremony.

According to legal docs, obtained by TMZ, Prince Harry texted Meghan's father 5 days before the wedding and 2 days after Thomas was caught staging photos with the paparazzi, saying ... "Tom, it's Harry and I'm going to call you right now. Please pick up, thank you."

Another text from Harry to Thomas reads ... "Tom, Harry again! Really need to speak to u. U do not need to apologize, we understand the circumstances but 'going public' will only make the situation worse. If u love Meg and want to make it right please call me as there are two other options which don't involve u having to speak to the media, who incidentally created this whole situation. So please call me so I can explain. Meg and I are not angry, we just need to speak to u. Thanks."

Remember, Thomas was awfully chatty with the press after it was announced he would not be attending the Royal wedding.

Another text from the Sussexes to Thomas says ... "Oh any speaking to the press WILL backfire, trust me Tom. Only we can help u, as we have been trying from day 1."

The docs also reveal texts Meghan sent to her father in May 2018, asking which hospital he was being treated for a heart attack and offering him protection.

Meghan wrote ... "I've been reaching out to you all weekend but you're not taking any of our calls or replying to any texts… Very concerned about your health and safety and have taken every measure to protect you but not sure what more we can do if you don't respond…Do you need help? Can we send the security team down again? I’m very sorry to hear you're in the hospital but need you to please get in touch with us… What hospital are you at?"

The Duchess followed up with another text telling her father she and Harry were "dispatching the same security guys you turned away this weekend to be a presence on the ground to make sure you’re safe."

The docs say Thomas rebuffed the offer, even though Harry "pleaded with Mr. Markle to let them help him."

L.A. Lakers guard Dion Waiters is coming clean about his infamous weed edible panic attack on the Heat team plane in 2019 ... admitting it really happened, but adamantly denying he had a seizure.

Remember, Waiters reportedly took a THC-infused edible and fell asleep on the team's flight from Phoenix to L.A. back in November ... and freaked out when he woke up.

Waiters required medical attention at a hospital once the plane landed in L.A. ... and had to miss the Heat's game against the Lakers later that night.

The 28-year-old expanded on what really went down on that flight in The Players' Tribune Monday ... saying, "It's on me."

"I own that. It was idiotic on my behalf — point-blank, period," Waiters says. "What’s crazy is, my whole life I been a leader. I’m not a follower. Pat (Riley) knows me. He knows I don’t do drugs."

Waiters points out his struggles with depression and anxiety ... and says he wasn't in a good place when the incident went down.

"But sometimes when you’re going through dark times, you can fall trap to things you’d never do in your right mind."

Waiters says the reports got blown way out of proportion ... and is denying he ever had a seizure.

"Ask the doctors. Ask my Heat teammates. They can speak on it. For that b.s. to come out, it ain’t right."

Waiters was suspended 10 games due to the incident ... and was later traded to the Grizzlies. He was released 3 days later and signed with the L.A. Lakers.

Netflix's new reality show, ''Too Hot to Handle,'' was serious when they told their participants no pleasure whatsoever, because producers had eyes on them 24/7 ... even in the John.

Contestant Bryce Hirschberg talked to Dax Holt and Adam Glyn on the 'Hollywood Raw' podcast recently, and revealed yes, they were under surveillance at all times to ensure they wouldn't, y'know ... choke any poultry. Even while they were on the sh***er -- producers were watching on CCTV.

That might sound like an invasion of privacy -- we're sure the stars of the show signed up for it though -- but that's the point of the show ... hold back from "releasing" and take home six figures in the amount of $100,000. The twist -- you're surrounded by temptation.

There's a bunch of hot singles who get thrown into "paradise" ... but they have to refrain from sexual or intimate touching of any kind or risk losing out on the prize money.

Of course, you also can't masturbate -- something you could normally get away with in the secrecy of the bathroom. But, that's out the window with cameras rolling.

Hopefully, the prolonged non-enjoying was worth it for Bryce. He says he didn't earn a dime for appearing, but won a meager $7,500!!! You can hear the whole thing here.

OKC Thunder player Terrance Ferguson will NOT face rape charges after prosecutors say they simply can't prove the 21-year-old committed a crime.

Ferguson was investigated by the Oklahoma City Police Dept. after a woman reportedly claimed he raped her at a house party in 2018.

Officials say the woman didn't file a police report until Feb. 2020.

Details surrounding the case have been thin, to say the least -- but the Oklahoman reports the accuser acknowledged she knew Ferguson before the alleged rape.

Now, Oklahoma County District Attorney David Prater says the probe is complete ... and his office will NOT be charging Ferguson with any crimes.

"Evidence to support the reporting person's allegations that the sexual conduct was not consensual was absent,” Prater told The Oklahoman over the weekend.

In other words, cops seem to be acknowledging that a sexual incident took place -- but can't seem to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that was rape.

Ferguson's attorney, Billy Bock, issued a statement saying -- "Terrance Ferguson is a very respectful young man who has recently had to defend himself regarding some false allegations."

"He cooperated fully with the investigation and appreciates the professionalism of the investigators with the Oklahoma City Police Department and Mr. Prater's office, which has declined to file charges."

"He continues to deny any wrongdoing and is looking forward to having this experience behind him."

Ferguson has started 123 games for the Thunder since it picked him with the 21st overall pick in the 2017 NBA Draft. He's logged 4.9 points per game for the team in his 3-year career.

Yo, THIS IS INSANE!!!

Team Russia swimmer Yuliya Efimova can't get to a pool due to COVID-19 -- so she went "swimming" on her kitchen counter.

DO YOUR ABS HURT FROM WATCHING THIS YET?!

The 28-year-old used a mat to cushion her thighs -- and then engaged her core in a big way to bust out an imaginary swim workout while her quarantine partner held her feet.

That's super impressive!

There is some controversy here -- Yuliya (who also goes by Julia Evimova) -- has a history of testing positive for banned substances.

In fact, she was banned from competing at the 2016 Olympic Games due to the Russian doping scandal -- but the ban was overturned.

Tennis superstar Novak Djokovic is "opposed to vaccination" -- and says he would have a serious decision to make if he was required to get vaccinated in order to compete again.

"Personally, I am opposed to vaccination and I wouldn't want to be forced by someone to take a vaccine in order to be able to travel," 32-year-old Djokovic said during a Facebook live chat Sunday with Serbian athletes.

"But, if it becomes compulsory, what will happen? I will have to make a decision."

He continued, "I have my own thoughts about the matter and whether those thoughts will change at some point, I don't know."

"Hypothetically, if the season was to resume in July, August or September, though unlikely, I understand that a vaccine will become a requirement straight after we are out of strict quarantine and there is no vaccine yet."

Obviously, this is a huge deal -- Djokovic is the #1 ranked men's singles player in the world ... with 17 Grand Slam titles on his resume.

A man wielding a baseball bat in a Bay Area Walmart was gunned down by police officers -- who claim they fired tasers first before a lethal shot, but video shows the guy was down.

The scene played out Saturday at a Walmart in San Leandro, just outside of Oakland and Alameda -- where cops were summoned after some guy started swinging a bat at people near the front entrance. When they arrived, they encountered him -- and it was all on film.

Check out the clip, which shows the moments leading up to the guy getting shot. He is, in fact, approaching the two officers with the metal bat -- and eventually, you hear a shot of some sort go off from the weapons they have drawn, which cops say were tasers at first.

The dude drops the bat and stumbles back, away from the officers. They follow him and you hear another shot, which makes the guy drop to the floor face first. You hear people freaking out after the second shot goes off, with someone screaming "No more!"

Eventually, as the cops approach the man's limp body, a third shot goes off, which causes people to scream even more. All the shots sound similar -- hard to tell which was the gunshot.

As for how the San Leandro Police Department is explaining the sequence of events, they say both officers deployed their tasers unsuccessfully, and finally ... one of them used their gun. If that's true, that would mean the first two shots were tasers here, and one of the cops shot the dude with a gun when he was on the ground ... and no longer an active threat.

President Trump just did something that rarely ever happens live when he's got a hold of a mic -- he fact-checked himself ... but only to serve his agenda.

DT was doing his daily White House Press Briefing Saturday, and while he was ticking off figures about testing in New York, he compared rates there to those in Singapore ... which he said were 6% higher than the South-Eastern Asian country.

Or, so said his notes, which he paused to correct, while calling out the typo. Trump said the actual number was closer to 67% -- a YUGE difference -- and that 6% didn't "look too good." He also seemingly took a shot at his staff, saying ... "Good job out there."

First off ... the fact that Trump is comparing New York testing rates per capita to Singapore -- which has about a quarter of the population NY does -- is pretty ridiculous, even if Singapore was one of the countries that seemed more prepared for COVID-19 than others.

Also, it's ironic that Trump would point out a typo ... when his tweets are often full of 'em, which get published as is, without correction. Here, when it's to boost his image of how he guides the States he oversees ... he wants to get it right.

Unfortunately, it appears the typo remark was only made to push the narrative that there's more than enough testing going on, and that Democratic governors -- like Cuomo, who's been calling for way more federal help lately -- are simply complaining to complain.