Controversial S#!T

Reggie Bush says Saquon Barkley's gonna waste no time dominating the NFL ... telling TMZ Sports the ex-Penn State star is more pro ready than he was coming out of USC.

We saw Bush -- regarded by many as the top player in the 2006 NFL Draft -- and asked who was more NFL ready heading into the draft ... him or Barkley.

"I think Saquon is more ready, prepared, going in. Just because his running style to me translates right now to the NFL," Bush -- the #2 overall pick in '06 -- tells us ... "For me, my first year in the league there was a learning curve of how to run between the tackles at the NFL level."

"There was an adjustment period for about 2 years, I would say. Before I really got comfortable running between the tackles" ... RG says.

But Saquon ... Reggie says he'll be ready to go from the jump.

Kanye West doesn't care what 'mob' mentality says, he loves President Trump ... even though he doesn't agree with all of his politics.

Kanye declared his allegiance to Trump's "dragon energy" ... in response to DJ Ebro saying Ye had confessed to loving Trump.

As you know, Kanye's not one to run from a controversy, and instead he fully leaned into POTUS, saying ... "You don't have to agree with trump but the mob can't make me not love him. We are both dragon energy. He is my brother. I love everyone. I don't agree with everything anyone does."

Kanye added, he's got love for Hillary Clinton, too.

Remember, he publicly embraced Trump right after his election ... and even went to visit him at Trump Tower.

It's pretty clear Kanye's gonna like whoever Kanye wants to like. It's just what Kanye does.

If Greg Hardy fights his way into a UFC contract, one of the biggest stars in his division wants a piece of the ex-NFL star ... with Derrick Lewis saying, "I like knocking wife beaters out."

Hardy is reportedly getting his shot during the UFC Contender Series -- in which up-and-coming MMA fighters compete for a chance at a UFC contract. It's where UFC star Sean O'Malley got his start.

Hardy (who's 3-0 as an amateur) would obviously compete in the heavyweight division -- where Derrick "The Black Beast" Lewis is ranked #6 in the world.

So, how does Lewis feel about a potential showdown somewhere down the line?

"He's a wife beater ... I'd like to get in there with him."

Lewis is referring to Hardy's domestic violence case -- in which he was initially convicted of attacking his then-girlfriend. The conviction was later thrown out when the alleged victim stopped cooperating with prosecutors.

Still, Lewis ain't letting Hardy off the hook.

"I'll fight Greg Hardy ... It'll be like vice versa him beating on a woman. I'll be beating him like he was a woman."

Why so much animosity?

"I grew up watching my mom and my stepdad fight," Lewis says ... "Fistfighting every day for stupid stuff. I don't tolerate stuff like that at all."

First things first ... Lewis has a brawl with Francis Ngannou lined up at UFC 226 on July 7 ... about a month after Hardy gets his UFC shot.

Stay tuned ...

Stan Lee allegedly got handsy during a massage last year, which ended with him rubbing up on the masseuse with his exposed crotch ... this according to a new lawsuit, but Lee is calling BS.

The Marvel honcho and his former assistant -- Max Anderson -- have been sued by Chicago-based massage therapist Maria Carballo, who claims Stan tried sexually gratifying himself during two sessions.

In the docs, obtained by TMZ, Carballo alleges she performed two massages at Stan's hotel room a year ago in Chi-town. During the first massage, she says Stan began fondling himself while face down on the table, and then started moaning when she got to his thighs. She says she left at that point, but came back the next day for round 2.

For the second massage, Carballo says Stan got to moaning and groaning again ... to which she responded by threatening to leave. She says he got pissed, though, so she stuck it out for another 10 minutes -- only now using her feet to perform a Shiatsu massage.

During the treatment, Carballo claims Stan grabbed her foot and rubbed it against his naked penis and scrotum. She says she immediately left after that, but not before collecting $240 cash from Lee. She also claims his assistant tried handing her more money as a tip, presumably because he knew about the misconduct ... according to her, anyway.

Carballo's suing for more than $50,000 in damages, and even cites the #MeToo movement as inspiration to speak out.

R. Kelly's daughter is reluctantly sticking by her old man amid mounting sex abuse allegations that are reaching a breaking point ... 'cause she says that's what family does.

We got Joann Kelly -- who goes by her artist name, Buku -- in Atlanta Monday, where we asked about the ever-growing scandal surrounding her father, who's been accused of grooming young women to be "sex pets" while allegedly holding them against their will.

Joann tells us she doesn't want to speak too much on the matter, but you can tell the issue hits close to home. She does admit, though, to feeling "terrible" about the whole thing.

Former NFL kicker Jay Feely is clearing up the controversy around a photo he posted with a gun at his daughter's prom date's side ... saying it was all a joke.

Feely tweeted a clarification Sunday about a pic he posted Saturday as he sent his daughter to her prom with a guy ... with Jay in between them and a pistol in his hand.

He says the pics was clearly meant as a joke, and that his kid had been dating the dude for at least a year. Feely also pointed out that the gun wasn't loaded and didn't have a clip inside, adding he didn't mean to be insensitive about the subject, which is a hot topic these days.

In his original post, Feely referenced a scene from "Bad Boys 2," in which Martin Lawrence's character intimidates a guy who comes over to take his daughter out on a date. Will Smith gets in on the interrogation, too, for a hilarious moment ... but a lot of folks didn't find Feely's take quite as funny. He was getting dragged on social media left and right.

Boxing champ Jermell Charlo is convinced he was banned from working out at a fancy NYC gym because he's black -- and now he's threatening to sue the hell out of them.

TMZ Sports spoke with Charlo who's still VERY pissed over what went down at Life Time Athletic Fitness in Manhattan on Thursday night ... when he and his crew were told they would NOT be allowed inside.

Charlo says they showed up to work out with his brother, boxing star Jermall Charlo -- who was already inside the building -- but the gym staff refused to let the crew purchase a day pass.

Charlo claims his crew was falsely accused of smelling like weed. He believes the real reason they were turned away is because he's "a black man."

Cops were called to the gym but no arrests were made.

Jermell says he doesn't want an apology -- he wants revenge in court -- because he wants the whole world to see what happened to him.

Bill Bellamy isn't hating on the white guy voicing a black character on Netflix's new animated 'Spy Kids,' but he's got a major bone to pick with the show's "lazy" casting directors.

We got Bill at LAX and he told us the show should absolutely recast Travis Turner, the white actor voicing a black kid on the show. When we got Travis, he insisted he was "urban" enough for the gig ... partly because he grew up in motels. Seriously.

Pete Carroll is not slamming the door on the Seattle Seahawks signing Colin Kaepernick -- claiming "the discussion and the opportunity is still open."

Of course, there's definitely a backstory here ... Seattle pulled the plug on a workout with Colin earlier this month because he wouldn't agree to end his kneeling demonstration.

But, Carroll appeared on Sports Radio KJR on Thursday and essentially said Colin was still in the mix.

"We are trying to figure it out," Carroll said ... "The discussion and the opportunity is still open."

"We're just trying to figure out what's best for us."

Carroll said he hadn't spoken with Kaepernick yet and was "not going there" when asked specifically about Colin's protest.

Andrew Morton, author of the most famous book on Princess Diana, says Meghan Markle holds a very important key for Royal Family's image.

Morton tells us Meghan becoming a Duchess after marrying Prince Harry is a much-needed step forward for the Royals after a checkered past where issues of race are concerned.

He says Meghan won't have to go around "kicking shins" to impart a sense of change at Kensington or Buckingham Palace -- her presence alone will do the trick.

Morton just wrote a new biography, "Meghan: A Hollywood Princess" ... and he'll have much more to say about her in next week's "Spilling Royal Tea" podcast. Meanwhile, check out this week's episode.

Donald Trump said Vladimir Putin boasted to him about the quality of hookers in his country ... this according to one of James Comey's memos.

Several media outlets have obtained the memos by the ex-FBI Director, and one of them is already adding spice to the Mueller investigation into Russia's alleged meddling in the 2016 election ... or at least rumors involving Trump and hookers.

In the memo, Comey claims POTUS said Russia's Prez told him ... "We have some of the most beautiful hookers in the world."

Scott Baio's getting some reinforcement from former costar Josie Davis over claims made by Nicole Eggert saying Scott forced Josie to remove her pants when she was just 13.

Eggert was going back and forth with Baio fans on Twitter Wednesday, and at one point said, "Ask Scott Baio why he demanded Josie Davis pull her pants down when she was 13..." Eggert later deleted the tweet but not before Davis got wind of it.

Josie -- who was on "Charles in Charge" -- just came to Scott's defense, calling the allegation completely false. She continues, "I only had a positive and professional relationship with him."

Eggerts new claims are among a string of bad blood between the two. Most recently, Nicole, Alexander Polinksy and attorney Lisa Bloom held a press conference where Polinsky claimed Scott had exposed himself and called Polinsky a "f****t" when he was just 11 years old.

Tristan Thomson's temporarily out of the dog house, physically anyway, and he couldn't look happier.

Tristan was grinning from ear-to-ear as he boarded the Cleveland Cavaliers team plane Thursday, heading to Indiana for Game 3 of their playoff series with the Pacers.

He could be smiling 'cause he's a new dad, or because the Cavs tied the series 1-1 last night. Or maybe he's just happy to get outta Dodge after getting busted cheating.

Considering he hasn't been playing much, we'll go with door #3. As we've reported, his relationship with Khloe Kardashian is in ruins at the moment, and after her family left town there's no buffer between them.

Sinead O'Connor told police Prince was a violent man who flew into drug-fueled rages against women, including herself.

Eleven days after Prince overdosed, Sinead was interviewed over the phone by Carver County Sheriff's investigators ... who have just released audio of that conversation, and she says Prince commonly "used hard drugs."

Sinead said, "I know this because I spent time with the man." She recalls it wasn't a pleasant experience, and claimed Prince "had been violent to a number of women in his life" ... some of whom she claims had to be hospitalized.

John Witherspoon says Starbucks is serving up a hot cup of bulls*** with their new anti-biased training in the wake of two black men being arrested at one of their shops.

We got the actor Thursday at LAX and asked for his take on what happened at a 'Bucks in Philly last week -- namely, the two men being hauled off to jail for hanging out and waiting inside for a friend. John says it's terrible what happened ... but he's got solutions.

He says the African-American community should start opening up their own businesses -- including coffee shops -- for just about everything imaginable, minimizing the need for Starbucks. Although admittedly, he says he doesn't drink Joe himself.

Adrian Grenier is pissed at Starbucks, but it's not for the reason you might immediately think.

We got the "Entourage" star Wednesday night leaving the "Party with a Purpose" event at The Peppermint Club in WeHo, where we asked about his environmental initiative, #StopSucking, in which he's asking the mermaid coffee chain to drop their single-use plastic straws since they flood the ocean.

Considering Adrian recently pitched his effort at a Starbucks shareholders meeting, you know he means business with this straw thing. Oddly enough ... he failed to address the recent controversy over a couple black guys being arrested at a Starbucks in Philly.