Controversial S#!T

John Travolta just had his best experience ever on a movie set -- after 40-plus years in the biz -- and he says it's all thanks to his amazing director, whose name will probably shock you.

We got John and his wife, Kelly Preston, at producer Oscar Generale's Bev Hills estate recently -- and he went off about one of the many films he's just completed, and the guy who was at the helm.

Remember, Travolta's been directed by Quentin Tarantino, Nora Ephron, Oliver Stone and John Woo. Still, he singled out rocker Fred Durst's directing skills!

Yep, that's Limp Bizkit Durst ... who's impressing the hell out of Travolta as a director. The duo worked together on the upcoming thriller "Moose."

JT plays an obsessed fan who destroys his favorite action star's life, and you gotta see him gush about Fred. It's impressive, considering the resumes of Travolta's previous directors.

Stormy Daniels' team has been flooded with tips on who her threatening mystery man might be less than 24 hours after she revealed the sketch, but she can't say she's that much closer to finding him.

Stormy's lawyer, Michael Avenatti, tells TMZ her legal team has received well over 1,500 tips on potential leads for ID'ing Stormy's alleged perpetrator. However, he says they've only deemed a couple hundred or so credible enough to pursue.

Avenatti wouldn't elaborate on what differentiated credible versus non-credible tips -- but we can take a guess. TONS of people took to Twitter Tuesday after Stormy revealed the sketch on "The View" to compare it to a bunch of celebs ... most notably, Tom Brady. Some even think it looks like Stormy's husband.

As for the legit leads ... Avenatti says Stormy's team has dedicated 40-60 man hours so far running them down. He says they have people on the ground in Vegas, CA and NY.

Khloe Kardashian was horribly conflicted on what last name to give her baby girl in the wake of Tristan Thompson's cheating scandal ... before finally deciding to go with Thompson.

Our Kardashians sources tell us ... Khloe chose the name True about a month ago, and up until the cheating scandal broke -- it was a lock that True's last name would be her father's.

We're told that quickly faded after video from October surfaced -- days before Khloe went into labor -- of Tristan cheating on her ... and she was beyond conflicted on whether to go with Kardashian or Thompson when it was time to fill out True's birth certificate.

Our Kardashian sources say it took Khloe a couple days after True was born before she finally decided the right thing to do was give the baby Tristan's surname.

One of the stars of Netflix's new animated 'Spy Kids' show says it's fine that he's a white dude voicing a black character ... in part because he's lived in motels and raps a lot.

We got Travis Turner Tuesday night at Craig's in WeHo and asked if he was worried about backlash from the African-American community over him playing a black character named PSI in "Spy Kids: Mission Critical," which officially debuts this Friday.

HELL TO THE NO, DAWG ... is pretty much Travis' response here, as he explains how he grew up "urban" by living in motels -- plus he says he makes music with black artists, including Snoop, apparently ... and even sponsors black kids. So it's all good, according to him.

Dr. Laura Schlessinger stiffed the accountants that handled her taxes for years -- to the tune of $71k -- and they want her to pay up ... according to a new suit.

Accounting firm Weinberg & Co. claims it provided tax and accounting services for Dr. Laura from February 2009 through January 31, 2016.

According to the docs ... Dr. Laura racked up a bill for $71,013 over that time and has refused to make good.

Christian Slater makes no bones about it ... "Mr. Robot" anticipated the Facebook and Russian hacking scandals 3 years ago, and the world is just now catching on to it. Too little, too late?

We got Christian Tuesday at LAX, and asked him about the eerie comparisons between his hit show, which tackles the dangers of cybersecurity ... and the recent plague of high-profile hackings of political, retail and social media platforms.

Christian -- who plays Mr. Robot, the "fsociety" hacktivist leader -- credits the show's creator, Sam Esmail, for having the vision back in 2015 when the show premiered. He also gives him props for scaring the crap outta us.

Stormy Daniels is now revealing a sketch artist's rendering of the mystery man who allegedly threatened her to back off Donald Trump.

The ex-porn star was on "The View" when she revealed the composite she and her attorney, Michael Avenatti, recently had done based on her memory of the 2011 incident. You'll recall she says the man approached her in 2011 and told her to "Leave Trump alone" and to "forget the story" ... or else.

Stormy told Anderson Cooper on "60 Minutes" that the threat came immediately after she'd spoken to In Touch magazine about her sex romp with Trump. She claims the man also threatened her then-infant daughter, saying ... "It'd be a shame if something happened to her mom."

As for the sketch itself, Stormy's memory is he was between 5'9" and 6' ... and "lean but 'fit.'" He also bares a striking resemblance to Tom Brady ... at least the sketch does.

Comedian Corey Holcomb says Maria Bamford's restraining order request against President Trump is just a publicity stunt that she can get away with because she's a white lady.

We got the "Last Comic Standing" and "Wild 'N Out" star Monday at LAX, and asked what he thought of Maria filing legal docs against the Prez for triggering anxiety and depression over his escalating feuds with countries like North Korea and Russia ... feuds that raise the specter of nuclear war.

He doesn't mince words here -- Corey says Maria's full of s*** for filing a frivolous legal claim, which he chops up to a good PR move and getting in on the Trump train. For the record ... she's got a comedy tour that's about to launch Tuesday, so he might have a point.

If you've never heard the one about Casey Anthony walking into a bar by herself, buckle up ... 'cause it's a real knee-slapper.

Casey was drinking for one on Sunday at O'Shea's Irish Pub in West Palm Beach, FL right around happy hour time ... and oh, what a happy time she was having with the regulars.

In video obtained by TMZ, you see Casey trying to have a convo with a few dudes there -- we say trying, 'cause it mostly sounded like drunken gibberish ... with an Irish twist. Either way, it's clear Casey enjoyed herself for the hour or so she was there, even solo.

Unclear exactly what she was drinking, but it looks like a light brew to us -- maybe a Stella.

As we've reported, Casey's been living the good life in the years since she was acquitted of murdering her 2-year-old daughter, Caylee Anthony, back in 2011 ... mulling over having more kids, babysitting, and hitting up happy hour in the Sunshine State.

Just another day in the life of World's Best Mom.

T.I. says the only way to get Starbucks' attention is to hit 'em where it hurts most -- their pockets -- after 2 black men were treated unequally in Philadelphia.

We got the rapper at LAX Sunday and asked him about the controversial arrest in Philly ... where cops arrested 2 men last week after an employee called 911 saying they were trespassing, while they stated they were simply waiting for a friend before placing their orders. A video showed the men being walked out in handcuffs and customers telling cops they'd done nothing wrong.

The arrest sparked public outcry ... forcing Starbucks to issue an apology days later, which T.I. just wasn't buying. But, maybe he'll buy this -- the coffee giant's CEO, Kevin Johnson, went on "Good Morning America" Monday and said managers will undergo training on how to spot "unconscious bias" after calling the arrest reprehensible.

Azealia Banks was breaking down and sobbing on her Instagram story Saturday night, claiming she'd been sexually assaulted ... and threatening to quit music over it.

In since-deleted Instagram videos posted to the NYC rapper's Story, Azealia can be heard crying over being "low key" raped by a man she claims pressured her into sex.

In the posts -- which were captured by a third party and posted online -- she starts off with a disclaimer saying she fells "like dirt." She also partially blames herself for the alleged rape, and goes on to threaten deleting her social media accounts until she's okay again.

Azealia was clearly affected by the incident -- the details of which are left ambiguous for now. She doesn't say where this happened, but presumably it occurred Saturday night. She also doesn't name the alleged perpetrator.

You never see her face ... only her voice, which at one point says someone "got the best of me." She eventually asks someone to come pick her up -- but the posts were later deleted off her account. She did, however, allude to roofies in later posts ... and added she was "good" from the night before and that her show on Sunday was still on.

Donald Trump wants to take a break -- from dealing with Stormy Daniels' lawsuit -- and is asking a judge to help him out ... according to new legal docs.

Trump's legal team claims that the recent raid of his attorney Michael Cohen's home, office and hotel room has thrown a wrench into their ability to defend the Prez against the former porn star.

According to the docs ... Trump wants to basically put the case on ice for 90 days, because Cohen is now a part of an FBI criminal investigation, and anything he says could be incriminating.

However, if Cohen pleads the 5th in his criminal case, it screws Trump over in his case with Daniels ... because Cohen is his key witness.

Trump's side argues this puts Cohen in an impossible position, and the only way to make things fair is for him to deal with one case at a time ... and not Stormy's for now.

Steve Harvey and his talk show producers are being accused of tarting up a hardworking single mom, who also happens to be a fitness model ... according to a lawsuit.

The "Steve Harvey" episode aired in April 2016, and the woman, Dominique Collier, says she had responded to a casting call for "single professional women who like to show off their looks."

She claims producers told her the show would highlight her being a professional single mom, who's also a fitness model. In her lawsuit, she says that's not how it all went down. Dominique showed up for the taping in a conservative outfit -- a long-sleeved blouse and pencil skirt -- but producers put her in a halter top and form-fitting skirt ... according to the suit.

In the docs, obtained by TMZ, she says the segment included an audience vote on her looks, and responses included ... "whore," "slut," "ratchet" and "daddy issues." Dominique says she fired off a cease and desist to the show to remove the audience poll from the segment before it aired -- and even though producers obliged, she says the damage was done in front of the live audience.

She also claims they altered pics of her to make her look more provocative.

She says she felt demeaned and was backstage crying when Harvey walked up and handed her the clothing she arrived in, including her bra and undergarments.

The OKC Thunder commentator who said Russell Westbrook was "out of his cotton-picking mind" is being punished for his terrible choice of words ... the team just announced.

Brian Davis, the play-by-play guy for Fox Sports Oklahoma, has been suspended for Game 1 of the Thunder-Jazz playoff series ... after making the racially insensitive call in OKC's regular-season finale.

Davis maintains he didn't mean to offend anyone -- but says he's cool with the suspension 'cause it was a pretty stupid thing to say.

“It is with great remorse and humility that I accept this suspension for the insensitive words I used during Wednesday’s broadcast. While unintentional, I understand and acknowledge the gravity of the situation."

An American pro boxer literally wore Trump's border wall on his shorts for a fight -- then got the LIVING CRAP BEAT OUTTA HIM by his Mexican opponent!!

Rod Salka was trying to make a political statement Thursday night vs. Francisco Vargas during Golden Boy's ESPN event in Indio, California ... steppin' into the ring with brick-patterned trunks in red, white and blue, with his waistband reading -- "America 1st."

Yeah ... Francisco wasn't having that. "El Bandido" BATTERED the 35-year-old Pennsylvanian over the next 6 rounds -- leaving him bloody and bruised before Salka's corner threw in the towel between rounds.

Guessing POTUS ain't too happy about his wall getting torn down on national TV.

Sarah Silverman has her own theory on why she thinks President Trump is so worried about the golden showers dossier referenced in James Comey's new book ... and it's got nothing to do with Melania.

We got Sarah leaving Craig's Thursday night in WeHo and straight-up asked her why she thinks 45 was so upset over the so-called Christopher Steele dossier, which claims Trump watched prostitutes urinate on a hotel mattress "as a way of soiling the bed."