Controversial S#!T

The little girls who had to use a Taco Bell's Wi-Fi for school have been blessed with thousands of dollars in donations -- money that'll be put to good use ... TMZ has learned.

Jackie Lopez, the woman running the GoFundMe page soliciting funds for the family in the viral photo, raised $142k-plus thus far ... and a good chunk of that will go toward the children's education.

Lopez says the girls' mom, Juana, plans on starting a college fund for her three kids -- two of whom were seen sitting outside of a Taco Bell with their laptops and notepads. The third child is only a year old, but Juana's focusing on the long play.

Juana also wants to use some of the money for therapy for her kids. She says the family's been in and out homelessness and it's likely had an effect on the kids, so she wants her daughters to talk to a professional.

Juana's now looking to buy a mobile home in Salinas. On top of that, Lopez says Juana will upgrade the ice cream cart she uses for work ... one of many things she does to earn a living.

You'll recall ... the photo of Juana's two girls caused quite a stir. Elected officials said it was emblematic of the digital divide in minority communities, and clearly folks were concerned.

L.A. County Sheriff's deputies gunned down a Black man in South L.A. this week -- which can now be seen in full view through new surveillance video that was just released.

Civil rights attorney Ben Crump posted footage obtained by a security camera at a nearby home, not far from where 29-year-old Dijon Kizzee was shot multiple times and killed on the spot Monday afternoon. His death has come under scrutiny and sparked protests.

LASD says officers were attempting to stop Kizzee after they found he was "in violation of vehicle codes" while riding his bike. They say they pursued him when he fled ... and things escalated into a physical confrontation between Kizzee and at least one deputy, which you can see here.

The Sheriff's Dept. goes on to say that during the struggle, some items Kizzee was carrying fell on the ground ... one of which they claim was a handgun. LASD claims at that point, Kizzee broke free and tried fleeing once again, but officers fired multiple rounds and took him down.

Crump and others contend that even if a gun was in Kizzee's possession during the altercation, he didn't point it at them and was not a threat by the time he ran a second time. They're demanding Sheriff Alex Villanueva release the names of the deputies who fired the shots ... while also asking for their arrest and eventual prosecution. The case is under investigation.

John Boyega isn't part of Disney's rat pack anymore, so he's speaking his mind freely about how he thinks they did him dirty in 'Star Wars' ... and he ain't sugarcoating a thing.

The actor is gracing the October cover of British GQ, and talked to the mag about some lingering gripes over his time playing Finn in the latest 'Star Wars' films. While he says he'll always defend J.J. Abrams -- who directed two of the flicks -- he says the studio itself screwed the pooch and misled both him and the fan base about the Finn character.

John says quite bluntly, "[W]hat I would say to Disney is do not bring out a Black character, market them to be much more important in the franchise than they are, and then have them pushed to the side." He adds "It’s not good. I’ll say it straight up."

We've gotten hints that John wasn't too happy with the way the Mouse House downplayed his character -- as we've seen him squabble with internet trolls about the franchise's direction before -- but now ... we know how he really feels.

He goes on to tell GQ his costars Daisy Ridley and Adam Driver's characters were fully fleshed out, and in the end ... got the biggest storylines (not to mention love interests). John says Daisy and Adam would admit the same, so he's not dropping any bombshell.

Masika Kalysha still believes faking her own kidnapping served a good purpose, so she has no regrets about that ... but her apology stands for those she offended.

The former "Love & Hip Hop: Hollywood" star was leaving Craig's late Tuesday night when we asked her about her publicity stunt, and she says ultimately it brought awareness to something she's passionate about ... so mission accomplished.

Masika tells us even though she didn't intend to trigger anyone -- so she's sorry for that -- she suggests the ends justify the means ... because she's opened up a dialogue about sex trafficking.

She even goes as far as calling out those who are upset with her for not doing more themselves to bring light to the important subject ... and says you can't be afraid of pissing off people.

As we reported ... Masika expressed some similar thoughts when she issued her apology last week, saying she "got caught up in the excitement of the moment" while filming her show on human trafficking but was pleased she brought awareness to it.

However, her distasteful act resulted in her being fired from the "Double Cross" TV show, anyway ... and she was rebuked by the founder of the sexual exploitation nonprofit -- the R.O.S.E. Organization -- with which she falsely claimed to be working.

What she's yet to address ... is why she promoted her own OnlyFans account and asked for money during her fake kidnapping video.

It sure seems she could have gotten the point across without doing that. Like she's admitted ... her delivery was far from perfect.

Jimmy Garoppolo is hands-down better than Dak Prescott ... so says Jerry Rice -- who claims if the Cowboys star QB was in the 49ers' offense, he wouldn't be nearly as good as Garoppolo!!

The NFL's G.O.A.T. wide receiver made the bold statement on 95.7 The Game on Tuesday ... saying straight-up he'd take Jimmy G over Dak if he were running an offense.

"I'm just going to call it," Rice said. "That's just my opinion. That's my opinion and I could be wrong."

Of course, a whole bunch of people in the NFL would disagree ... Dak's already made 2 Pro Bowls in 4 seasons while Garoppolo has been to none in 6.

Prescott also threw for 4,902 yards and 30 TDs in 2019 ... while Garoppolo managed to pile up just 3,978 passing yards and 27 TDs.

But, Jerry -- who's SUPER connected in San Francisco -- says he's heard all about how good Jimmy's been in practice in Niners camp this summer ... and he's now all Team Jimmy in the debate.

"I think right now that with Jimmy G," Rice said, "he's a better quarterback than Dak Prescott."

Ben and his associates just fleshed out their thoughts even further in a scathing rebuke of local Louisville law enforcement officials who appear to have tried getting her ex-BF, Jamarcus Glover, to falsely pin her as part of a crime syndicate ... this AFTER she'd died.

Ben and co. write, "This is why the Black community has no trust in America’s justice system. It’s enormously ironic that the accused drug dealer here acted with honor, refusing to falsely discredit Bre after her death -- even when offered the temptation of no prison time for lying, while prosecutors and police acted in the most egregiously dishonest and dishonorable way possible."

Ben goes on to say the police have already killed Breonna once, and now they're trying to do it again by killing her reputation and her good name. He adds, "Disgusting behavior by those who are supposed to be the protectors of justice."

The family of Breonna Taylor is rattled by the news of the shocking plea deal offered to her ex-boyfriend, according to their attorney, who adds ... they're losing even more confidence in Kentucky authorities.

Ben Crump came on "TMZ Live" Tuesday to discuss the bombshell news about local prosecutors in Louisville seemingly trying to smear Breonna with a false claim she was a criminal. That came out in a plea deal offered to her ex-BF, who was arrested on drug charges.

Crump says he's not buying prosecutors' claim the plea deal was merely a draft whipped up early on in negotiations. He tells us it's yet just another piece of evidence that local authorities were trying to sweep Breonna's killing under the rug from the very beginning.

Crump says the plea deal proves they were out to dirty up Breonna's character and says that's shaken her family's trust Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron will get them justice in the case.

He tells us bluntly -- Breonna's family is losing faith in the process, and not only because Cameron still has not announced charges against the officer involved in Breonna's killing.

Crump tells us there's no reason a clear answer shouldn't be reached in the next couple weeks, and insists the family only wants one thing -- equal treatment under the law. Plain and simple.

Breonna Taylor's boyfriend is going after Louisville police for the allegedly botched raid at her home that left Breonna dead, claiming he's the victim of police misconduct ... and he didn't actually shoot one of the officers.

Kenneth Walker filed a civil lawsuit Tuesday, asking the judge for a declaration of immunity from prosecution in the criminal case for firing a single "warning shot" after cops rammed the door to enter Taylor's apartment in the middle of the night back in March while executing a search warrant.

As you know ... police claim Walker's shot struck Sgt. Jonathan Mattingly in the femoral artery in his thigh, but his legal team refutes that.

Walker's lawyers say evidence indicates that police may have shot Mattingly as they were "firing wildly from various angles."

According to the lawsuit ... Walker was interrogated by police after the shootings and was then wrongfully and illegally arrested, detained, charged and prosecuted.

Walker now wants to avail himself of Kentucky’s stand your ground law, which he claims operates to prevent law enforcement from prosecuting him after he fired the shot in self-defense. In other words, it seems the lawyer is saying Walker had a right to fire a shot under the stand your ground law, so he would therefore be immune from criminal prosecution.

According to the docs, he's specifically concerned about being hit with an attempted murder charge that was previously dropped without prejudice.

Taylor's boyfriend is also seeking damages for assault, battery, false arrest and imprisonment, malicious prosecution, abuse of process and negligence stemming from the incident.

As we've reported ... none of the officers involved in the raid and shooting of Taylor have been arrested, though one cop -- Brett Hankison -- has been fired.

President Trump says cops who use deadly force and shoot someone are exactly like nervous golfers who can't sink the last shot ... seriously, he compared the two.

DT sat down for an interview with FOX News' Laura Ingraham Monday night, and while discussing high-profile police incidents lately -- especially with Black men -- Trump brought up Jacob Blake ... saying the officer who fired 7 times might as well have been Tiger Woods on a bad day.

It was so outrageous and tone-deaf, even Ingraham tried to steer him away, but Trump stuck to his guns ... and said cops who use lethal force are like golfers who "choke."

Trump did question whether the Kenosha officer, Rusten Sheskey, could've done something else other than shoot -- like tackling him -- but the comparison he made is still shocking and utterly lacking in empathy. As you know, Blake is paralyzed from the waist down.

Jaguars legend Maurice Jones-Drew says he was straight-up "shocked" to see the team cut Leonard Fournette ... telling TMZ Sports he has no idea how the move improves Jacksonville's roster.

"Leonard Fournette is one of their best players on their team," MJD says. "How are you better without him?!"

"How does that happen?!" the former NFL running back added. "How do you get rid of this guy?!"

Maurice says even if Fournette had a locker room personality that team officials didn't love ... he still thinks the best move would have been to keep the star RB in a Jags uniform.

"To me, in this league, it's all about you have to have a talented team to win," says Jones-Drew, who's currently KILLING it as an NFL Network analyst. "You can't win in this league without talent."

Jones-Drew says if he were running the Jags ... he would've certainly kept Fournette on the roster despite his past ups and downs with the team.

In fact, Maurice says he would have found a way to keep guys like Jalen Ramsey, Dante Fowler and Yannick Ngakoue on the roster as well.

But, MJD insists he ain't mad at his former team for the moves ... and tells us he's still holding out hope his ex-squad can wrap up a perfect 16-0 season this year.

Tiffany Haddish says don't be fooled by loud-mouthed promoters of racism and hate -- especially toward African-Americans ... because they're outnumbered by good people.

Tiffany joined us on "TMZ Live" Monday, and she got choked up talking about events in Kenosha and Portland this past week, but some rays of hope surfaced.

While fighting back tears, she says that she considers herself an optimistic person ... but it only goes so far in the wake of all the strife and violence.

Tiffany, who's become a leader in the social justice movement ... thinks 15% - 25% of the country harbor extreme hatred toward blacks, but she seems to think there's security in numbers, and the numbers are in favor of racial equality.

Tiffany raised eyebrows a few weeks back on Carmelo Anthony's podcast when she said she's scared to have kids because she's worried about them growing up Black in America. She has a solution that is awesome and inspiring.

Kanye West says claims the President or the GOP are paying him to run a spoiler campaign are laughable, because he's already wealthier than Donald Trump!

Ye recently sat down with Nick Cannon to do a segment on his podcast, "Cannon's Class," and it looks like they got to talking about controversy they've both been embroiled in recently -- Nick's anti-Semitic remarks and Kanye's presidential run.

Nick says folks have accused Kanye of being a mere puppet of the Republican Party -- and some have even speculated they're shelling out big dough to keep Ye's political ship afloat. Well, he had a perfect comeback for that ... and it came at the expense of his pal, Donald.

You'll have to watch yourself to see how Kanye worded it, 'cause it definitely got a laugh out of Nick (us too, frankly). Bottom line though ... Ye says he's virtually un-bribable.

Nick gets to another point -- which will be explored more when the full episode comes out Tuesday -- and it touches on whether Kanye believes he can actually win this thing ... and whether it's reasonable for him to be running at all. In response, another zinger from Ye.

A Taco Bell proved critical for two little girls who were briefly using its Wi-Fi for school -- something that sparked some true help from the community.

A photo of two young girls sitting outside of a Taco Bell in Salinas, CA -- just outside of Monterey -- recently went viral ... which shows them plopped down on the concrete with their laptops and notepads out, while two TB employees come out to talk to them. It's quite sad.

The photo prompted a two-pronged response -- one group was utterly outraged at the lack of resources these kids had, understanding this is the best they could do in a desperate situation. On the other hand, some folks were concerned ... thinking it was neglect.

On that first part, a handful of elected officials spoke out on the photo ... pointing out the digital divide among certain underrepresented communities. Salinas City Elementary School District copped to the fact the kids were their students and said they were already working to remedy the situation by providing them a hot spot with internet access.

The fam was allegedly about to be made homeless by their landlord because of renovations scheduled on their unit.

Fortunately, enough people in the community pulled resources together and put them up in a hotel for the time being while they get back on their feet. They've even started a GoFundMe for them too.

A British TikTok and YouTube star totally blue it with his latest stunt he pulled on his GF ... and while he thinks it's hilarious, he's getting a ton of backlash from just about everyone else.

Kristen Hanby "pranked" his girlfriend, Jasmine Woodward, by pouring a bunch of blue fabric dye in her bath ... which, of course, left her looking like Smurfette.

After sharing the video of himself cracking up while pulling off the bathtub prank with his millions of followers, Hanby sparked outrage as many felt it was just plain stupid at best ... or totally humiliating to Jasmine, at worst.

Many pointed out the harmful effects the dye could have on Jasmine -- both physically and mentally -- and called it "low-key abuse" instead of a good-humored prank.

Others pointed out even if the prank was fake or Jasmine was in on it -- as she's been for several other Hanby vids -- pranks like this normalize hurtful behavior that clearly oversteps personal boundaries.

So, what do you think?

A white police officer in South Carolina dropped the n-word twice during an absurd argument -- claiming he was justified to say it because a Black man used it, and now he's been suspended.

The cop -- Sgt. Chad Walker -- went on a tirade against a group of patrons outside a bar Saturday night after being called out for the way he was treating some of the people of color ... specifically, the Black guy he claims called him the n-word.

After loudly repeating the n-word twice, Sgt. Walker doubles down on his belief it's okay for him to say it ... despite protests from the crowd for him to stop saying it. He was finally led away by another cop.

The full body cam footage shows Sgt. Chad in the bar, ordering a few patrons to put their drinks down and leave or face arrest ... while enforcing the governor's order to stop serving alcohol at 11 PM amid the coronavirus pandemic.

As one table leaves, the cop accuses the Black man in the video of being "colorblind" for directing the n-word at him, though it's not clear that he did.

Sgt. Walker's been suspended by the Columbia PD and its Chief has apologized, saying the officer failed to fulfill the standards of the department.

G Herbo says the police will kill black people at any moment ... and he's warning black youth to learn this lesson early so they know how to act in certain situations.

We got the Chicago rapper Friday at LAX and asked how he's coping with the Jacob Blake shooting, and how it's affecting black kids across the country.

G Herbo says there's a harsh reality to be learned from what happened in Kenosha and elsewhere -- he says cops want to kill black people, so you gotta take that into account during interactions with them.

The way G Herbo sees it ... the only way to solve the problem is to face the facts ... he says black people are at a disadvantage in dealing with police, and they've got to realize the odds are stacked against them if they want to survive.

"Karens" are all across this country lately, from Manhattan to Manhattan Beach. Case in point, this woman ... who's oozing racism from her pores.

Check out this wild scene captured on camera this weekend in the South Bay beach community in Los Angeles County, where a Black woman started filming another woman along the bike path who was having an absolutely racist meltdown.

You can hear the "Karen" in question claiming that the Black woman accosted her, and that she was going to call the police ... which she eventually does. The videographer fires back, saying this lady called her the n-word ... which the woman in question doesn't deny.

What she does do ... constantly call the woman of color an "African" in an utterly condescending tone. She goes on to ask why "you people are so violent" and then actually gets on the line with a 911 operator and continues her racist spiel.

She doesn't attempt to make up an actual emergency -- like that one "Karen" did in Central Park earlier this year. The lady simply says her "environment" is being threatened by "an African" and she needs assistance STAT. It's just absurd to it see play out.

As for what precipitated this ... who knows, who cares. The reaction by the woman on camera is outrageous. The one thing we do know is that the brother of this Black woman was absolutely infuriated. Brandon Crockett writes, "I’ve had enough of seeing my own people being accosted in the middle of their daily activities for quite literally, just being black. And I most certainly have had enough of seeing us being slaughtered in broad daylight. I can hardly explain how infuriating this s*** is."