Controversial S#!T

The violent jackass behind the deadly Austin package bombings is picking on the wrong city, and the wrong citizens ... according to Dan Rather, who has a home there.

The veteran newsman is a born and bred Texan, so when we got him Tuesday in NYC ... he had some tough talk for whoever's responsible for the tragic bombings. The most recent one went off early Tuesday morning at a FedEx near San Antonio, but the package was bound for Austin.

Rather says the Texas capital is overflowing with smart, young people who don't have patience for prejudice. Cops think the suspect might be targeting black citizens -- but Rather says the bomber's made a serious miscalculation.

Gervonta "Tank" Davis made it known that he wants to smash on UFC fighters -- but before that, he says he's gotta remind the boxing world why he's known as the "mini Mike Tyson."

"I have to prove myself to show people that I am a champion," Davis told TMZ Sports. "I'm ready to take over the sport of boxing."

Tank admits he didn't bring his A-game in his last scrap -- the co-main event of Mayweather vs. McGregor -- even though he won by KO ... taking 8 rounds to finish Francisco Fonseca.

But, Gervonta says he's made all the right moves leading up to his April 21 bout with Jesus Cuellar -- from leaving his hometown to hiring a personal chef ... so he's expecting a vicious rebound.

Remember, Tank recently said he's also gunnin' for a UFC fight like his mentor, Floyd Mayweather, so he ain't lackin' confidence.

Kevin Hart believes Meek Mill possibly getting his sentence overturned is a beacon of hope for the criminal justice system as a whole ... and he's got a helluva explanation for why.

We got the comedian Monday night leaving Mr. Chow in Bev Hills, where he weighed in on Meek facing the very real possibility of walking free due to a police corruption scandal in Philly, among other things he's arguing ... like an allegedly biased judge overseeing his case.

Kevin sounds pretty optimistic that justice for Meek will have a ripple effect for wrongly imprisoned individuals beyond just their hometown, not to mention the youth as well.

Hillary Clinton's ex-running mate, Tim Kaine, says Donald Trump should probably stop attacking Special Counsel Robert Mueller ... 'cause appearances (of guilt) are everything.

We got the Virginia Senator Monday in D.C., where we asked what he made of Trump's recent flurry of gripes about Mueller's Russia investigation being nothing but a "WITCH HUNT!" that'll supposedly show "NO COLLUSION!" between 45's campaign and ol' Vlad.

Kaine says Trump's clearly nervous about something, and he's not doing a very good job at keeping his poker face intact under pressure from the Special Counsel's office.

More importantly ... he says if Trump truly isn't guilty of wrongdoing, why the big show? Sounds like a classic case of "If the tweet fits" ... according to Tim, anyway.

Boyz II Men singer Shawn Stockman wants everybody to stop hating on Chris Brown ... stat.

We got Shawn Sunday at LAX, and asked him about Lil Dicky's music video for "Freaky Friday" ... where he wakes up as CB. The video also featured Ed Sheeran and Kendall Jenner, both of whom are getting some backlash for supporting Chris, a convicted abuser.

Aside from the 2009 Rihanna case -- where Chris got 5 years probation, 180 days community service and a year of counseling -- there were more recent allegations of abuse from his ex-gf, Karrueche Tran.

Jim Carrey has apparently broken into the theme park caricature painting game -- and his latest creation is quite the monstrosity ... Sarah Huckabee Sanders.

The actor shared a photo this weekend of a portrait he painted of President Trump's Press Secretary, and it's clear he's no fan. He captioned his art ... "This is the portrait of a so-called Christian whose only purpose in life is to lie for the wicked. Monstrous!"

Carrey has been pretty outspoken about his disdain for the Trump administration -- and he's even been sharing a ton of other portraits of Trump, Republicans who support him and ex-campaign aides alike ... many of which seem to be done in a relatively negative light.

He does have love for other folks, though -- as seen in a recent portrait he painted of the late Stephen Hawking ... whom Carrey refers to as the "greatest mental athlete of our time" in the wake of his death. Hawking passed away last week.

Russell Simmons says the rape and sexual assault allegations against him are bogus, because he has never ever rolled that way.

We got Simmons Saturday night leaving Craig's in WeHo and he was quick to tell our photog, "I don't have a stitch of violence in me. I would never hurt anybody."

Simmons, who's been accused of sexual misconduct by 12 women, added, "I have never had any violence in me, but this is a difficult time for everyone."

Tomi Lahren's completely fed up with what she believes is an attempt to torpedo President Trump with "salacious garbage" stories.

We got the Fox News contributor at LAX Friday night and asked her about the ongoing scandal involving Stormy Daniels and the Prez ... and it set her off. Tomi tells us she's sick and tired of the nonsense ... because Americans have more important stuff to deal with.

Tomi also has a theory on why the media is even covering the "porn garbage" when it should be focusing on all the good things Trump has done ... and gives us a few examples.

As we reported ... Trump's lawyer fired back at Stormy Friday over breaching the infamous "hush" agreement, and wants to go after her for $20 million.

A rep for the movie "Crazy Aliens" is admitting something went wrong with a stunt involving a dog that was spun around violently in a cage and then hurled into icy waters ... but they say it was an accident.

The video posted by TMZ triggered outrage, and now the rep says it was never their intention to dunk the German Shepherd. The rep says during the first take of the scene the dog was secured in its cage and never got wet.

But during a different take the dog was supposed to hang above the water in its cage through a special apparatus designed by the film crew. The rep says there was a design flaw and the cage fell into the water ... twice.

In the video -- shot in China -- you hear the director scream something in Chinese. We translated it, and he said, "I told you to not let it go. Why did you let it go?"

The rep says the dog owner was on set and after the dog was soaked they provided the owner with tents and towels.

Stevie Wonder is squarely on Bruno Mars' side in the legal fight over "Uptown Funk," saying Bruno didn't culturally misappropriate anything ... Stevie says it's all about making music for the world.

We got the musical legend Friday night in Bev Hills leaving Mr. Chow, and he squarely takes issue with activist Seren Sensei who called him out in a web series, calling him a karaoke singer who rips off other artists.

Stevie calls BS on that, saying Bruno's a great talent and the idea that certain types of music should be walled off is ridiculous.

Colin Kaepernick sure seemed to be in a good mood in Houston on Friday -- after personally attending the deposition of Texans owner Bob McNair in his collusion case against the NFL.

TMZ Sports obtained a photo of Kaep after the depo with his attorney, Ben Meiselas -- with some extra pep in their step.

As we previously reported, Kaepernick had filed a grievance against the league claiming owners and other high-ranking NFL officials were in cahoots to blackball Colin after his national anthem demonstration.

Kaepernick had arrived in Houston earlier this week -- and even knocked out a QB workout with his trainer.

As far as the case goes ... McNair isn't the only big name on the witness list -- Kaep's legal team from Geragos & Geragos also subpoenaed Seahawks owner Paul Allen and coach Pete Carroll along with Jerry Jones and Robert Kraft.

O.J. Simpson says he agrees with Donald Trump -- Colin Kaepernick "made a mistake" taking a knee during the national anthem ... and completely disrespected the American flag.

"I think Colin made a mistake," Simpson told The Buffalo News ... "I really appreciate what he was trying to say. I thought he made a bad choice in attacking the flag."

"I grew up at a time when deacons were in the KKK. I don't disrespect the Bible because of those guys. The flag shouldn't be disrespected because of what cops do. The flag represents what we want America to be."

"When he did it the first time I thought, 'Well, you took a gamble, and I give you credit.' But it was him continuing to do it where he made the biggest mistake."

"I'm a firm believer of doing what you think is right, but I would always stand for the flag."

As far as his relationship with Trump, O.J. says he was friends with Donald back in the day and even went to Trump's 1993 wedding to Marla Maples.

But Simpson says he doesn't see eye-to-eye with Trump when it comes to politics.

Matthew Morrison, the star of "Crazy Alien," is outraged and disgusted by the abuse of a dog on the film's set ... and says if he was there, he would've made every effort to stop it.

TMZ obtained a clip of a German Shepherd locked in a cage that was suspended high above the ground. The cage was then violently spun around and hurled into a freezing bed of water. We're told the scene was shot several times.

Morrison said of the incident, "I've just been made aware and seen a video from the set of a film I worked on in China. My heart is broken to see any animal treated this way. Had I been on set or known about this, I would have made all efforts to stop this. I've called the producers to express my outrage."

A spokesperson for PETA -- who provided the clip to TMZ -- tells us they want the film's cast and producers held accountable and are demanding the following:

--The scene be cut.

-- Director Hao Ning to commit to never working with live animals again.

-- The cast, including Morrison to donate their salaries to animal-protection charities in China.

-- The current condition of the dog used.

Golf legend Fred Couples says the old, dominant Tiger Woods is here to stay -- and he thinks it's FREAKIN' AWESOME.

"Oh, Tiger's back ... I love it," 58-year-old Fred told TMZ Sports at LAX. "I have a great opinion on Tiger."

You'd think Couples would be a little threatened by his resurgence ... but Fred's so happy to see vintage Tiger crushing the green, all he could do was gush about him.

Of course, we had to ask Couples the question on everyone's mind -- can Tiger end his Majors drought and collect his 5th green jacket?!

Snapchat is doing crisis management after getting called out by Rihanna for allowing an ad to run on the social media platform that poked fun of her domestic violence incident at the hands of Chris Brown.

A rep from the National Network to End Domestic Violence tells TMZ they were contacted by Snapchat Thursday asking if the social app could bring an NNEDV member onto its board.

The NNEDV rep we spoke to said their role will be to educate the Snapchat staff on domestic abuse and what's appropriate to post, so they don't make similar mistakes again.

Rihanna blasted the ailing social media platform for running an ad for a game app called "Would You Rather?" that disturbingly asked: Would you rather "Slap Rihanna" or "Punch Chris Brown?"

The owners might be scared ... but virtually all the players in the NFL support Colin Kaepernick and want him back in the league ... this according to Denver Broncos LB Brandon Marshall.

Marshall has been tight with Kaep since college and told the guys on the "TMZ Sports" TV show (airs tonight on FS1) that he's 100% confident C.K. is ready to compete with the best in the world.

But Marshall doesn't think Kaep's job status has anything to do with his skill -- it's the owners who are too afraid to stand up for the QB.