Controversial S#!T

Elections are about choices, and 2020 is shaping up to be an imagery choice -- do you like your President with or without a mask?

Trump paid tribute to fallen heroes Monday at Arlington National Cemetery and later Baltimore's historic Fort McHenry, and he was true to form -- no mask. He's made it clear ... he's not going to wear a mask in public -- as he put it, he doesn't want to give reporter that satisfaction -- but he was seen once at a Michigan Ford plant wearing a mask behind a curtain.

Meanwhile, Joe and his wife, Jill, ventured outside for the first time since the shelter-at-home orders were implemented and his presidential campaign came to a screeching halt. The former VP and Jill laid a wreath during a visit to a veterans memorial in Delaware.

Joe, Jill and even his secret service detail all wore black masks.

Although a mask is a scientifically-based precaution, it's also become a political symbol. Trump clearly is telling his supporters NOT to wear them ... almost as if it's a sign of weakness. Biden clearly begs to differ.

It's really frightening ... a 2nd Amendment Kentucky rally the day before Memorial Day turned into an insane display of Governor Andy Beshear being hung in effigy.

It makes no sense, other than some gun-toting fanatics wanting to whip the crowd into a frenzy. Around 100 people swarmed the Governor's mansion to celebrate constitutional rights, as they packed heat.

It was billed as a Second Amendment rally ... "what it really means to be FREE."

Pastor Cliff Christman then launched on the Governor's coronavirus restrictions, grousing, "This has been one of the biggest shams in world history ... Grown men have been hiding in homes nearly wetting their pants over this invisible enemy that nobody sees. Where is it at?  Let it come out and face us."

Donald Trump wants thousands of Republican delegates crammed into the convention hall in North Carolina ... or else.

Trump just tweeted he will move the Republican Convention out of North Carolina unless Governor Roy Cooper gives assurance the convention can operate at full capacity.

Trump said, "Unfortunately, Democratic Governor @RoyCooperNC is still in Shutdown mood (sic) & unable to guarantee that by August we will be allowed full attendance in the Arena."  Trump went on to threaten a switch if the Governor doesn't cave ... "... we will be reluctantly forced to find, with all of the jobs and economic development it brings, another Republican Convention site. This is not something I want to do."

Doctors and scientists have implored people to maintain social distancing in public ... that's why there will be no fans at sporting events in the foreseeable future. What's more, just a few people who have the virus can infect hundreds, and those hundreds can infect thousands and so on. It's been happening at churches, choirs, nursing homes, etc.

A Bay Area woman was allegedly going around and posting xenophobic letters on the homes of people of color, demanding they leave the U.S. ... and she was caught on camera doing the heinous deed.

Photos of the lady -- who has yet to be identified -- circulated Saturday ... with a couple pics of her pinning a hand-written note to the front of door of someone's home in San Leandro. Apparently, she was going around Friday doing this in a residential neighborhood.

A FB user claiming to have been a victim of the bigotry wrote, "This happened today, a white woman wearing a USA beanie targeted People of color homes with this letter at their front doors. This occurred in a quiet and well diverse middle-class community in San Leandro. My family’s house was also targeted. We were able to capture all this on camera."

She added, "There is no room for this hateful and despicable behavior in this society."

Now, the contents of the letter are disturbing. It starts out by quoting America's preamble, and then go on to demand that people who weren't born here return to their countries of origin -- and in some of the letters found around the area ... she gave 'em a deadline.

The worst part of the letter reads, "If you are a woman or man who was born in another country, return, go back to your land immediately. Fast, with urgency." Later it says, "We the People: Do ordain to you to leave this house. One American, white, brave, that serves the nation of USA is going to live here."

The good news here is that the former Mayor of San Leandro, Stephen Cassidy, said the woman was already picked up by cops, and that statement by the police department is forthcoming. He'd earlier said he would tell officials to charge her with a hate crime.

A former North Carolina state politician is balling up his digital fists at one ABSOLUTELY essential store refusing to let just anyone through their doors ... yep, it's Pottery Barn.

The guy's name is Scott Stone, and he served in North Carolina's House of Representatives a few years back -- now, he's an angry old man yelling at his local in-mall PB for standing firm on their by-appointment-only policy, which is super inconvenient to him.

Rep. Stone writes, "Dear @potterybarn (and other retailers) : I am NOT shopping by appointment. You're allowed to be open, so be open." He had another must-hear gripe ... "And why close at 5 when mall is open until 7? Do you actually want to sell anything?"

Pottery Barn's sign here reads, "We're Open 11-5 by Appointment Only! Call 704-442-9493 to schedule! Important Note: We Will Begin Taking Returns on 5/25. We Can't Wait to See You!!" They're in Charlotte's SouthPark mall, which reopened its doors a couple weeks ago.

We tried calling them up for comment ... but the staff there didn't wanna talk. At any rate, Rep. Stone had some follow-up thoughts on the mockery he's receiving, saying ... "Love how lefties are so worked up about my last tweet which highlights the frustrations so many have about how slow NC economy is reopening - slower than most states. Maybe they believe govt should continue to write checks forever and keep the entire economy closed?"

A group of 850 former Kentucky Wildcats cheerleaders are rallying behind the coaches fired over wild hazing allegations ... demanding they get their jobs back!

As we previously reported, UK axed the cheer team's advisor, head coach and 3 assistants after investigation into a crazy team lake retreat back in February.

The school claims the retreat was debaucherous -- with allegations of team members being forced to booze and perform topless and bottomless cheerleading stunts.

Several active members of the team have disputed the allegations -- but the school fired the staff anyway ... citing results of a 3-month investigation.

Now, the UK Cheerleading Alumni Association is going to bat for the staff in a strongly worded letter to school honchos.

"To say the UK cheerleading advisor and coaches lack integrity is insulting," the alumni statement says.

"To suggest that the advisor and coaches didn’t provide proper oversight is absurd. To so harshly penalize a program -- especially one that has led such an exemplary existence for four-plus decades -- is unfair!"

"Although what is alleged to have happened with the current squads is regrettable, we support them too, because we believe no person should be defined by their mistakes."

The group added this message for the fired coaches -- "You were always there for us. We're proud to return the favor."

Drake's relationship with Kylie Jenner's been fueling the rumor mill for months, and now that he's referred to her as "a side piece" -- on wax, as we used to say -- expect it to heat up.

Here's the deal ... Drake went on Instagram Live Wednesday night to tease some unreleased music from a collab with Future.

On the track, the duo raps about all the hot women they're able to haul in, and Drake spits these lyrics -- "Yeah, I’m a hater to society / Real sh*t, Kylie Jenner that’s a side piece / Yeah, I got 20 motherf***in’ Kylies."

Future follows with similarly themed lyrics, but what's interesting is the 2 have been working on this song together for a couple years now, but in the past ... Future rapped the Kylie part.

It should be noted, the track shouts out Kendall Jenner and Gigi Hadid, as well -- "Yeah, I got 20 damn Kendalls / Young slim baddies and they in vogue / Yeah, I got 20 f***in’ Gigis."

Drake, of course, is no stranger to gossip related to Kylie and the Kardashian/Jenner crew. There were reports of romance with her in November, but we were told they were just hanging out as friends.

That friendship endured despite Drake's beef with Kylie's brother-in-law, Kanye West, over a variety of issues ... including a rumored affair he had with Kim.

No lyrics about that on any new music from Drake, though ... at least not yet.

A Domino's Pizza delivery guy who let his frustrations get the best of him and dropped a couple f-bombs on 2 teens who didn't tip their driver is now out of a job.

We broke the story ... the father of the 2 kids told us he let his daughter use his credit card to order some grub from Domino's, but when she signed for it, she mistakenly left the tip line blank. When the brother handed the driver the receipt, he was pissed ... and unloaded on him.

The dad tells TMZ ... he called Domino's that night and lodged a complaint ... the following day both the GM and owner of that franchise called to apologize to him and his kids.

On top of that, we're told the area supervisor and the store manager personally paid a visit to the family's home to deliver some gift cards for their trouble -- a $200 prepaid gift card for each teen, and a $100 Domino's gift card for the fam.

Not such a happy ending for the delivery driver though ... he got the ax.

The owner of the Domino's says the decision was made after reviewing the video and investigating the incident. The owner tells us ... "I am a small franchisee that is locally owned and operated, and we always strive to do what is right."

Paul Pierce says there's NO WAY LeBron James deserves to be considered one of the 5 best players in NBA history ... and he's got a pretty ironic reason for the snub.

The Boston Celtics legend dropped the scorching hot take on ESPN Monday, saying the King never established a winning culture on his own ... and therefore, shouldn't be mentioned among the best in the game.

"I go back and I ask myself, 'What has LeBron did to build up any organization from the ground-up?'"

"Look at the names I said -- Kareem (Abdul-Jabbar), Magic (Johnson), (Michael) Jordan, Tim Duncan, Kobe (Bryant), (Larry) Bird ... these guys are all top 10 players who either helped build up their organizations or continued the tradition."

Pierce explained his case against LBJ ... saying, "He went and put together a team in Miami. He came back to Cleveland to put that team together. Then he went to the Lakers, where a tradition has already been made and that's still to be continued ... so, that's my argument."

Jay Williams tried to talk some sense into Pierce ... saying, "You don't need to make an organization great in order to be one of the greatest of all time."

But, The Truth wasn't hearing any of it ... saying his Top 5 is MJ, Kareem, Russell, Magic and Kobe.

Of course, Pierce's take is a bit hypocritical ... considering his only championship came when he teamed up with Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen to form the first "super team" in 2007 -- but then again, no one's putting Pierce in their top lists.

On top of the take, Pierce has thrown some major shade at Bron's Lakers back in 2019 ... telling TMZ Sports "LeBron is doing very well out here -- with his production company."

So ... is Pierce just bitter ... or is he really speaking his Truth??

Roe v. Wade is one of the landmark cases in American legal history and remains a lightning rod for the pro-abortion vs. pro-life debate today ... and some news about "Jane Roe" is a bombshell.

Norma McCorvey -- the famous plaintiff in the case -- makes the claim in an upcoming documentary, "AKA Jane Roe," that she never actually changed her mind in 1995 and was actually against abortion ... she said she was paid off.

According to the doc -- which premieres this Friday on FX -- McCorvey's decision to come out as pro-life in 1995 was a financial one ... because she claims she only did it after receiving money from anti-abortion groups, including Operation Rescue.

Norma was filmed in 2017 -- just months before she died -- and said of the pay-off ... "I was the big fish. I think it was a mutual thing. I took their money and they’d put me out in front of the cameras and tell me what to say." She added ... "It was all an act. I did it well too. I am a good actress."

In what she described as a deathbed confession, Norma revealed to the filmmakers she actually was still pro-choice, saying ... "If a young woman wants to have an abortion, that’s no skin off my ass. That’s why they call it choice."

Of course, McCorvey's reversal on abortion in the mid-90s was chalked up as a huge win for pro-life groups ... as it seemed Jane Roe had come over to their side.

Politicians like AOC have already weighed in. She says ... "Wow: Norma McCorvey (aka “Roe” of Roe v Wade) revealed on her deathbed that she was paid by right-wing operatives to flip her stance on reproductive rights. So, like many right-wing operations, it turns out a huge part of the anti-choice movement was a scam the entire time."

Akim Aliu says ex-NHL player Steve Downie is a "racist sociopath" who "made my life a living hell" during their junior hockey days ... and the allegations are shocking.

Aliu -- who is black -- spelled out the whole thing in a strongly worded op-ed for The Player's Tribune ... detailing several alleged incidents of abuse at the hands of Downie.

FYI, 33-year-old Downie was a 1st round NHL Draft pick in 2005 -- and played 9 seasons in the league.

But, Aliu says before he got to the big stage, Downie terrorized him while both players were members of the Windsor Spitfires, a team in the OHL -- the best junior league in Canada.

"First couple of practices he put Tiger Balm in my jock," Aliu says ... "Then he took my gear outside and threw it on the roof."

"And then he began to belittle me in front of my teammates, the coaches, whoever would listen to him. He’d make fun of my clothes, the way I spoke."

"He was two years older than me and a rising star, and he wielded his power over me like I was nothing -- like I was subhuman."

Aliu also says Downie and other teammates tried to strip him naked on the back of the team bus with other rookies as part of a hazing ritual ... but Akim refused.

Because he refused, Akim says Downie "shoved his fiberglass stick through my mouth."

"I lost seven teeth in half a second. Blood gushing down."

Akim says he felt forced to drop his gloves and fight Downie in an effort to save face in front of his teammates.

Akim goes directly at Downie in the article -- saying, "I went through hell at the hands of a racist sociopath."

"His name’s Steve Downie."

"I don’t really give a crap what he thinks about the way I just described him. I’d say it to his face today."

"He had nothing but hate in his heart back then. He looked at me and saw a black boy with a weird accent -- and didn’t like me because of it. I was attacked because of the color of my skin. I knew it then. And I know it even more now."

31-year-old Aliu has previously made headlines for exposing several horrible racist incidents he was forced to deal with on his journey through the hockey ranks .... including blackface costumes and n-word rants by team officials including former Calgary Flames head coach Bill Peters.

We've made repeated efforts to contact Downie for his side of the story -- reaching out his former agent, calling numbers connected to him and even trying to contact him through social media.

Mike Johnson -- one of the few black men who tried to woo Hannah Brown on "The Bachelorette" -- says her use of the n-word was outta line, and he'd love to teach her a lesson.

Mike tells TMZ ... "What Hannah did was unacceptable. Issues like this bring light to the bridge of pop culture and racism within our country." He goes on to explain, "I'm inviting her and everyone to a conversation, in hopes to educate everyone that this type of behavior needs to be changed and is unacceptable. My aim is that in this moment we don't divide, we come together, learn from this and create change for the better."

He also tells us that on Sunday -- when he first addressed the scandal on social media -- he had not seen the video of Hannah dropping the word while reciting DaBaby's "Rockstar" lyrics.

Welp, he has now and he's got strong feelings. His response is a balanced mix between what Rachel Lindsay had to say, and what another one of Hannah's exes, Tyler Cameron, said as well.

Some people called Mike out initially for not backing up Rachel -- who's also African-American -- but he put that matter to bed ASAP.

ICYMI, Rachel -- the first black 'Bachelorette' -- didn't seem satisfied with Hannah's apology, and she went in on her and anyone who isn't black using the n-word, even if it's in song. Tyler was more forgiving, saying we outta use this as a teachable moment.

It appears Mike is splitting the difference, but it's obvious he thinks re-education is needed on Hannah's part. That's huge, considering Mike was a fan fave and reportedly in the running to be the series' first black 'Bachelor.' He still might be, in fact.

BTW, Mike says he never experienced any type of racist behavior or language from Hannah during his time on her season.

President Trump is going all-in on pushing hydroxychloroquine as a way to fight the coronavirus ... because he says he's taking the stuff himself!!!

That's right, folks ... Trump claims he's been taking the drug he can't stop talking about -- which is commonly used to treat malaria, but also lupus and arthritis -- for a couple weeks now.

He doesn't seem to have any qualms about it either ... despite the FDA warning that the drug is unproven against COVID-19 and shouldn't be used outside a hospital setting.

POTUS also claims many other people are taking it -- including frontline workers and doctors -- and seems to be suggesting hydroxychloroquine can be used as a preventative measure against the virus ... though there's no scientific evidence to back that up.

Trump insists there's nothing dangerous about using it and continues to claim he's heard very good things about it. He adds ... "And, if it's not good, I'll tell you right, I'm not going to get hurt by it."

As for his proof of some of the "good stories" he's heard, he mentions one doctor in Westchester, NY who is allegedly using it to treat patients ... and hasn't had any die.