Controversial S#!T

The University of Michigan-Dearborn is apologizing for its "virtual cafes" that appeared to hearken back to the days of "Whites Only" signs in America ... claiming it was a serious snafu and it regrets the error.

Here's what happened -- the university's Center for Social Justice & Inclusion hosted a Zoom session Tuesday called a "Non-POC Cafe" for students who don't identify as people of color to "gather and to discuss their experience" living as non-POC in the world.

At the same time, it also hosted a virtual cafe for Black, Indigenous and POC students from marginalized communities to gather on Zoom to do the same thing.

Naturally, people were outraged and called UM-Dearborn out for allowing apparent segregation on campus, or at the very least ... promoting exclusionary virtual events without thinking of the repercussions.

The college is owning up to it and apologizing now, saying the way it described the virtual events was "not clear and not reflective of the university’s commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion."

As for the thought-process behind the dual "cafes," UM-Dearborn claims it meant well ... but simply missed the mark in its delivery.

It says ... "The original intent was to provide students from marginalized communities a space that allowed for them to exist freely without having to normalize their lives and experiences, while also providing students that do not identify as persons of color the opportunity to deepen their understanding of race and racism without harming or relying on students of color to educate them."

Each session had a staff member as a facilitator and we're told a total of 8 students participated.

Ice Cube has a list of demands to help Black Americans that he feels needs to be addressed in order to get his vote ... and says both sides of the aisle want to, at least, hear what he's got to say.

We spoke to Cube Wednesday on "TMZ Live" and he elaborated on his "Contract with Black America" that he's been promoting these past few months ahead of the election. Bottom line ... he says he'll vote for whoever implements his ideas, even if it's President Trump.

Check it out ... for Cube, identity politics is gone, and he's only looking out for his people at this point -- telling us that if a candidate doesn't clearly explain what's in it for the Black community if they're elected, he doesn't see a point in voting for them.

Specifically, he says economics is a huge part of his agenda -- explaining that there needs to be a monumental shift in the wealth gap between Black people and everyone else.

Now, Cube says he's heard from Joe Biden's camp AND Trump's about his 'Contract' ... and insists there's nothing partisan about his demands.

There's also this ... he says Biden should not think for a second he has the Black vote locked up. Fact is, Trump is still in office and could roll some of these things out before November, which would go a long way for Cube, and possibly other voters.

It's a fascinating take, and Cube is determined to hold Trump and Biden's feet to the fire.

Kyle Rittenhouse shooting and killing 2 protesters with a semi-automatic rifle is just one of those stupid things all teens do ... at least that's Donald Trump Jr.'s absolutely shocking theory.

President Trump's oldest son shared that offensive take during an "Extra" interview with ex-'Bachelorette' star Rachel Lindsay ... who asked why his father still hasn't condemned Rittenhouse's actions.

Don Jr. says they're waiting for due process and don't want to jump to any conclusions -- which is ironic considering his dad does that all the time. Yet, he clearly defended the 17-year-old charged with 2 homicides.

Trump Jr. says if he puts himself in Rittenhouse's position ... "Maybe I shouldn't have been there. He's a young kid. I don't want 17-year-olds running around the street with AR-15s. Maybe I wouldn't have put myself in that situation, who knows. But, we all do stupid things at 17."

When Lindsay called him out for minimizing the incident, Don replied ... "Really stupid, fine."

The truth is ... Jr. and his daddy have no qualms whatsoever about condemning demonstrators against systemic racism and police brutality without getting all the facts straight. So, Don Jr.'s excuse for failing to condemn an alleged killer speaks volumes.

Colin Kaepernick is back in the NFL -- in the Madden '21 video game ... where he's now a playable QB with a higher rating than Cam Newton and Baker Mayfield.

"Colin Kaepernick is one of the top free agents in football and a starting caliber quarterback," EA Sports said in a statement.

"Our team at EA Sports along with millions of Madden NFL fans wanted to see him back in the game."

EA Sports says fans can use Colin as a QB in Franchise Mode -- and play with him starting Tuesday, Sept. 8.

We look forward to seeing Colin on Madden NFL teams.

We're told Colin's overall raying is an 81 -- a number EA says is based on Kap's "prior on the field performance, combined with our data-driven EA Sports rating simulations."

The company says the rating takes into account "he has not taken the field since 2016."

"When Kaepernick was a healthy starting quarterback he was rated 89, 89, 81 overall and known for his strong touchdown-to-interception ratio, mobility, and playoff performances."

There's more ... Kap also has a signature TD celebration -- a raised fist, which players can activate after a score.

EA also notes that Colin is the top-rated free agent QB in their game.

And, with his 81 rating, Kap ranks higher than Derek Carr,  Ryan Tannehill, Josh Allen and even Kyler Murray.

Kanye West is trying to meet with his political rivals ... Ye says he was denied a meeting with Bernie Sanders, and wants the opportunity to chat with Joe Biden.

Yeezy recently sat down with Nick Cannon for a segment on Nick's podcast, "Cannon's Class," and they started talking politics, and how Ye caught a ton of flak for meeting with Jared Kushner.

Kanye says the sit down with President Trump's son-in-law and trusted aid "ain't no secret meeting" ... and says he wanted a similar meeting with Bernie, but the former presidential candidate wouldn't grant one.

Now that Biden is the democratic nominee for prez, Kanye says he wants a power meeting with Joe and is willing to meet with any politician, regardless of their party.

Looks like the ball is in Biden's court here.

Suspended Reds announcer Thom Brennaman says he realizes the "incredible hurt" he caused when he used a homophobic slur on live TV ... and claims he has become a better person in the weeks following the incident.

Remember, the longtime play-by-play guy was calling a game against the KC Royals on August 19 when he was caught on a hot mic referring to an unnamed city as "one of the f** capitals of the world."

Brennaman later apologized mid-game ... and was quickly suspended from his Reds gig and dropped from his "NFL on FOX" role.

The 56-year-old spoke to the NY Post about the backlash he faced following the incident ... saying, "Believe me, I know there are a lot of people who are still very angry and I understand that."

Brennaman has vowed to become an ally for the LGBTQ community ... and has personally met with several groups to get a better understanding of the impact of hateful words.

"The realization of the incredible hurt that I’ve caused using that word has been breathtaking," Brennaman told the Post.

"It’s been absolutely amazing the amount of grace and forgiveness and support."

As for the reason behind using the anti-gay slur ... Brennaman says he has no idea why he said it or in what context.

"I couldn’t even tell you what happened, where it came from."

He added ... "Look, I said it is all that matters. The rest of it is irrelevant. I said it. And I own it. And I’m the one who has to live with it."

The NY Giants have officially cut ties with DeAndre Baker -- who's facing life in prison for his alleged role in an armed robbery.

The move was expected ever since Broward State Attorney Mike Satz announced prosecutors would be moving forward with 4 counts of robbery with a firearm against Baker stemming from a May 13 incident.

Baker was a star for the Georgia Bulldogs before being selected by the Giants with the 30th overall pick in the 2019 NFL Draft. He was expected to compete for a starting job this season.

As we previously reported, Baker -- along with Seattle Seahawks cornerback Quinton Dunbar -- was arrested for allegedly robbing several people at gunpoint during a cookout in Miramar, FL.

Cops initially said ... witnesses told them Baker pulled out a semi-automatic firearm and directed Dunbar to start taking expensive watches and other valuables from people at the cookout.

Prosecutors later dropped ALL of the charges against Dunbar, but Baker has been formally charged with 4 counts of robbery with a firearm.

If convicted, Baker faces a mandatory minimum of 10 years and up to life in state prison.

An alleged racist who flashed a provocative tattoo to a group of Latino men paid for it dearly within seconds ... getting the beat-down of his life.

Check out this brawl that went down in Vegas after a white man came face-to-face with a group of guys, one of whom accuses him of being a racist. It's unclear what exactly sparked the confrontation or the racism allegation ... but it looks like whatever was on his chest did it.

In any case, the fight is pretty crazy ... you see the white guy in question lift up his shirt to show off the ink on his chest -- hard to make out exactly what it says. It definitely offended the guys he was facing off against, 'cause one of them says, "You a racist, motherf***er?!"

That's when the punches start flying, and there even seems to be a very young man who gets in on the action to defending the white guy -- but he paid the price too, getting tossed down and punched.

In the end the white guy and his ally appeared to be laid out cold.

We've reached out to LVMPD to see if officers responded to this -- but on the face of it, this appears to be a simple case of ... someone talking smack and getting whooped on in public.

R. Kelly got put in a really bad spot by guards at the Chicago prison where he's locked up, and then they ignored his concerns of being in danger before he got attacked ... according to his legal team.

The disgraced singer's attorneys, Steven Greenberg and Nicole Blank Becker, tell TMZ ... a lot of the animosity toward Kelly within the Metropolitan Correctional Center is due to some of the prison guards telling the inmates that they had to go on lockdown because of protests outside the facility for R. Kelly.

Kelly's legal team suggests it's strange for guards to make such announcements, and believe this caused the other prisoners to become upset with him.

We're told, 3 weeks before Kelly's attack, he overheard his alleged attacker -- a fellow inmate -- outside his cell talking on a phone and saying things indicating he might attack the singer.

According to Kelly's side ... he expressed his concerns the next day to a prison guard when Kelly had to ride in the same elevator as the allegedly menacing inmate, saying he didn't trust him. We're told they had to ride together anyway.

A few days later ... Kelly allegedly told a doctor from medical he wished guards would stop telling everyone he's the reason for lockdowns because the other inmates were getting mad.

The singer claims he also told at least 2 other guards he feared for his safety in the 2-3 weeks leading up this his attack ... but says they didn't take his concerns seriously.

We broke the story ... a pissed off inmate allegedly walked into Kelly's cell and began kicking him. The fight didn't last long and Kelly didn't suffer any major injuries, but the altercation shows he's not immune to being a target of violence.

Cardi B and Candace Owens are in an epic feud, with Candace calling Cardi an "illiterate rapper" who isn't worthy of interviewing Joe Biden ... thing is, Owens just doesn't get it.

Owens blasted Cardi for her recent sit down with Biden ... specifically, Cardi's question about what Biden would do about Black men dying in America. Owens thinks Biden should have fired back that, according to her, most Black men don't die at the hands of cops but rather other Black men.

Apparently, Owens doesn't think there's an issue with systemic racism in police departments, nor does she address the long list of Black men and women who have died at the hands and knees of cops ... sometimes over minor offenses and sometimes over no offenses at all.

Owens just can't wrap her head around Cardi interviewing a Presidential candidate ... she just can't understand why Biden didn't, as she put it, sit down with "intellectual" black people.

Here's what she's missing. Cardi has a huge following and can do more to get out the vote that the people Owens mentions, including herself. On top of that, she may not care for Cardi's interview, but lots of others did. Maybe she thinks Cardi was just too effective.

At one point during the back and forth, Cardi posted a vid from the Hamptons of her sister, Hennessy, getting harassed because she and her friend are an Afro-Hispanic gay couple.

Owens says Cardi is "uneducated when it came to politics." For her part, Cardi says Trump supporters have gone after her, encouraging people to set her house on fire.

2020 politics ... it ain't pretty.

President Trump once hired a Black actor to impersonate Barack Obama, just so he could get him in his office and fire him "Apprentice" style ... and the whole thing is on video.

The scene was reportedly filmed around 2013, and was supposed to air during the 2016 RNC -- but it never saw the light of day ... until just recently, that is. It's cringey -- you see Trump bring his "Faux-Bama" into his office in Trump Tower, and belittle him to no end.

Check it out ... in the clip, you see the actor who is no doubt supposed to be Barack sitting there and just taking Trump's disparaging comments -- which range from bashing his job rates numbers, criticizing how he's handled the economy ... and mentioning how often he golfs.

In the end, DT, sure enough, dishes out his signature slogan ... and BO is sent on his way.

It's awful, frankly, but apparently ... this is something the RNC seriously considered running. At any rate, it's just an example of how much disdain Trump has for Obama ... so claims his ex-attorney, Michael Cohen, who recounted this anecdote in his new book.

The book -- 'Disloyal: A Memoir' -- also included a photo of Trump filming the scene with the Black actor he hired ... simply to humiliate on camera. In other words, yeah ... this happened.

Cohen's book is set to be published for the masses Tuesday, and it reportedly contains several other damning stories about the President, including alleged racist remarks and other sordid comments.

A woman who briefly escaped the custody of two undercover officers in San Diego had a seizure as they chased her down ... a wild scene that played out on camera.

It happened Saturday during protests near the San Diego County Jail. At one point, you see an unmarked, civilian-style car posted outside a gate to get inside ... when all of a sudden, a lady springs out from the back seat in shackles and makes a run for it.

She screams for help as she tries to escape, and people around her are clearly confused before they put it all together. Two men in plain clothes -- who are presumably law enforcement agents -- run after her and eventually catch up just a few yards away.

As they begin to apprehend her, a crowd forms around all of them with most everyone's camera whipped out and recording. Some people try yanking the men off of her, and at one point ... she's literally being pulled by the leg and hair in mid-air. It's horrifying to watch.

It gets worse though ... the woman goes into a full-blown seizure during all the chaos, and the two guys eventually give up and start walking back to their car. Everyone's asking them to identify themselves, but they refuse ... and simply leave the scene, hand on gun too.

A group of mostly Trump supporters went on a verbal tirade against a group of Black Lives Matter protesters in Prescott, Arizona, and it's an ugly scene.

The hecklers called the protesters "losers" and implored them to just "go away for good."

Some hecklers called the protesters "trash" ... as others had guns strapped around their chest.

Vehicles passed by with occupants furiously waving the American flag as there were competing chants -- "No Justice, No Peace," vs. "All Lives Matter." It doesn't appear things turned violent, but it was plenty bad nonetheless.

Byron Scott thinks top NBA players should take a more active role in advocating for Black coaches ... just like Kobe Bryant did for him back in the day.

59-year-old Scott says he likes and respects Steve Nash -- but couldn't help but feel disappointed when he saw the Brooklyn Nets hired Nash as head coach over other well-qualified Black candidates.

"My first thought was why didn’t Mark Jackson or some other African-American guys who have coached in this league at least get an opportunity to coach with the Brooklyn Nets?"

Fact is, Scott says ... "We don't get jobs that are that set and that good -- where you got 2 stars like Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant."

Scott believes Black coaches usually get opportunities with teams that are in pretty bad shape ... unlike Nash and the stacked Nets.

Scott says his opinion is based on his OWN experience -- he took over the Hornets when they were only an 18-win team and New Jersey coming off a 20-win season.

"We don’t get those jobs where there is built-in superstardom guys on that roster right away."

"We get the kind of jobs where you have to make something out of nothing and when you don’t or you’re not able to do it, they’ll say, 'Well, we gave him the opportunity.'"

So, what's the solution? Scott says he wants to see more powerful NBA players go to bat for Black candidates.

"Our players don’t do a good enough job for advocating for Black coaches and that's just something that we need to change as well."

Jacob Blake has finally spoken to the public from his hospital bed where he lies paralyzed from the waist down -- and his message is simple ... don't take life for granted.

A video was posted this weekend by Blake's family attorney, Ben Crump, which appears to have been filmed by a friend of his named Mike. It shows Jacob lying in his hospital gown and addressing the camera -- sharp, alert and precise with his words.

We'll let the man speak for himself, but to sum it up ... he says the things we take for granted in life -- like walking, for instance -- can be taken from you in a flash, and he wants all the young'ns and old cats who might be listening to take notice -- and take advantage.

He tells anybody who might not be living right to turn things around, as he assures them they don't wanna end up like him ... with unbearable pain, which he documents in great detail. He also addresses the African-American community at large -- and it's pretty uplifting.

What's astonishing ... the guy appears to be in relatively good spirits -- his physical condition notwithstanding -- and not only that ... his first words to the world are inspirational ones, spreading nothing but positive vibes and advice. Jacob's been through hell, but here he is preaching unity, gratitude and good deeds. No mention of the cop who shot him.