Controversial S#!T

The guy in the opening scene of Childish Gambino's "This Is America" video is NOT Trayvon Martin's dad, Tracy ... contrary to a flurry of social media buzz.

The guy in question is actor/musician Calvin the Second, who hopes Tracy doesn't see the video because he fears it will traumatize him.

Calvin told us he started getting calls this weekend from people who gave him a heads-up ... he was being confused for Tracy. Calvin was shocked, because he and Tracy don't look alike ... apart from the beard. He passed it off as "fake news," until he started thinking about the impact it might have on Trayvon's dad.

Calvin says he felt bad for Tracy since Gambino's video is filled with gun violence. Trayvon was only 17 when he was gunned down in Florida in 2012, and his killer was later found not guilty.

For the record ... Calvin says he wasn't hired to be a Tracy look-alike, and there's another bearded guy with whom he's often confused. You can probably guess who.

6:58 PM PT -- Schneiderman just released a statement announcing his resignation from the office of New York Attorney General. He says, “It’s been my great honor and privilege to serve as Attorney General for the people of the State of New York. In the last several hours, serious allegations, which I strongly contest, have been made against me. While these allegations are unrelated to my professional conduct or the operations of the office, they will effectively prevent me from leading the office’s work at this critical time. I therefore resign my office, effective at the close of business on May 8, 2018.”

Governor Andrew Cuomo is asking the top law enforcement officer in his state to resign after allegations of physical abuse were made against the New York Attorney General.

Cuomo issued a statement late Monday saying that he wanted a full investigation into claims made against Eric Schneiderman in a New Yorker article, which details alleged physical abuse of 4 women that he'd either dated or tried pursuing romantically.

According to the report, Schneiderman would allegedly slap these women repeatedly across the face during sexual activity, among other types of degrading acts ... which the women claim were non-consensual. Schneiderman denied the allegations, saying in part ... "In the privacy of intimate relationships, I have engaged in role-playing and other consensual sexual activity. I have not assaulted anyone," adding nonconsensual sex is a line he'd never cross.

That doesn't appear to be good enough for Cuomo, though -- he says Schneiderman should step down for "the good of the office." Interestingly enough ... Schneiderman's heading up two separate Weinstein-related probes ... one at the request of the Governor.

As we reported ... Gov. Cuomo wanted to know why the Manhattan D.A., Cyrus Vance, Jr., did not prosecute Harvey Weinstein in 2015 ... and directed Schneiderman's office to investigate the matter. Schneiderman had also filed a civil rights lawsuit against TWC.

Marco Rubio can only shake his head after the Univ. of Florida made headlines for shoving black grads off the stage when they tried to celebrate -- and says his alma mater needs some cultural schooling.

We got the Florida Senator in D.C. and asked him about the debacle that went down Friday after several black grads were pushed by an "inappropriately aggressive" marshal during the ceremony.

Some students danced while others tried to flash their fraternity and sorority signs before the marshal violently intervened ... prompting spectators and social media to accuse the marshal of racism.

Tom Sizemore inappropriately touched an 11-year-old child actress who was working with him on a film in 2003, and it caused lifelong damage ... according to a new lawsuit.

Sizemore is being sued in Utah by Kiersten Pyke, who claims Sizemore groped her on set when she was 11 years old during production of the movie "Born Killers" -- in which they were both starring. The suit alleges Sizemore touched the girl underneath her underwear during a scene, and placed his finger in her private parts. This allegedly happened in the presence of about 20 people, including the girl's mother.

The lawsuit goes on to claim the woman suffered irreparable damage as a result of the alleged incident -- including mental, psychological, and emotional problems, substance addictions, PTSD, emotional instability ... and lots of other problems.

According to the complaint, Sizemore was initially removed from the project after the allegation surfaced at the time -- but the alleged victim claims he was ultimately brought back to finish the movie ... and that she was the one who ended up getting the ax.

The NFL Players Association believes the Cincinnati Bengals violated league policy by trying to get Eric Reid to agree to stop kneeling in exchange for a possible contract.

It's all part of a new grievance the NFLPA filed on behalf of Reid -- who believes he's being blackballed for taking a knee during the national anthem in the 2017 season.

Reid met with the Bengals on April 9 and was reportedly asked if he would kneel during the 2018 season. According to reports, Reid refused to answer the question. He ultimately did NOT get a contract offer.

Enter the NFL Players Association which is saying Reid is getting screwed because the NFL has NO league rule prohibiting players from demonstrating during the national anthem and teams that try to stop them are in violation of the Collective Bargaining Agreement.

In fact, the NFLPA obviously references the Bengals in a news release ... though it doesn't call them out by name.

"According to our information, a club appears to have based its decision not to sign a player based on the player’s statement that he would challenge the implementation of a club’s policy prohibiting demonstration, which is contrary to the League policy."

The situation sounds VERY similar to what Colin Kaepernick went through with the Seattle Seahawks -- which shut down a workout with the QB because he would not agree to stop kneeling.

Kaep and Reid are repped by the same attorneys -- Mark Geragos and Ben Meiselas -- who issued this statement:

"Colin and Eric have taken courageous action at the expense of their professional careers and personal lives. They did these selfless acts because they wanted to shine light on inequity and oppression."

If Destiny's Child is ever in the market for a fourth member, they don't have to look further than Michelle Obama, according to Kelly Rowland.

We got Kelly at LAX Friday where she told us Michelle can bust a move like no other. She saw firsthand this week at College Signing Day, a Philly event celebrating high school seniors pursuing higher education.

The former First Lady hosted and busted out some choreography with "Empire" star Jussie Smollett.

John Lennon was not a saint. In fact, The Beatles legend is a "bad guy" ... so says NFL star Chris Long.

Long was responding to a Twitter challenge where he was supposed to state a "controversial yet unproblematic opinion" ... and he wrote, "John Lennon was a bad guy."

The Philadelphia Eagles stud doubled down in all caps -- "JOHN LENNON WAS A BAD GUY AND IF THIS MAKES YOU MAD UNFOLLOW ME."

When asked why he felt this way, Long responded, "It’s easier for me because I don’t care for the Beatles. I don’t feel a need to cape for an abuser."

Long is clearly referring to Lennon's admission that he physically abused women -- something he touched on during a 1980 Playboy interview.

"All that 'I used to be cruel to my woman, I beat her and kept her apart from the things that she loved' was me. I used to be cruel to my woman, and physically -- any woman."

"I was a hitter. I couldn't express myself and I hit. I fought men and I hit women. That is why I am always on about peace, you see. It is the most violent people who go for love and peace."

"Everything's the opposite. But I sincerely believe in love and peace. I am not violent man who has learned not to be violent and regrets his violence. I will have to be a lot older before I can face in public how I treated women as a youngster."

In fact, his first wife, Cynthia, wrote a book and said Lennon once slapped her in the face.

Stevie Wonder doesn't have time to waste thinking over Kanye West's ridiculous views on slavery -- ditto for President Trump's proposed race summit, actually.

We got Stevie Saturday at LAX and asked what he thought of 'Ye's controversial comment -- ya know, that slavery must've been a choice black people made after a certain point.

You can tell the he's not having it with Kanye's POV -- he even says as much by calling it "foolishness" ... adding that if you know your history, you don't listen to such BS.

Kanye West's outburst about slavery being a choice is small potatoes compared to the other issues plaguing the African-American community ... according to one of his closest friends, Common.

We got him leaving Equinox in L.A. on Friday and asked if Ye's incendiary comment will end up destroying his career. Common says he doesn't agree with everything his fellow Chicagoan says, but he still loves him.

His major beef, though, is with the national reaction to Kanye's words. Common says it's distracting attention from several important issues.

Herschel Walker says he understands why NFL teams won't hire Colin Kaepernick -- but offers a simple solution ... if a team asks you to stop kneeling, stop kneeling.

The ex-NFL star says he respects what Colin was trying to accomplish with the kneeling, and wants to help the QB make a real difference in the communities.

But when it comes to the workplace, Walker says Colin should either fall in line and do what he's asked ... or don't expect anyone to hire you.

"I own a chicken company," Walker says ... "If the guy that I hire don't want to do what I ask him to do, why do I hire him? And I think that's the problem right there, you know."

Walker says he has contacts in D.C. -- including the President -- and would happily team up with Kaep to get things done. He just thinks the kneeling demonstration is the wrong way to go.

Speaking of politics, we also spoke with Walker about his new position on Donald Trump's Fitness Council -- and he's VERY excited to make a difference.

Donald Trump just shouted out Kanye West during his speech at the NRA Convention ... for giving him a boost in the polls with black people.

The Prez thanked Kanye in front of the huge audience in Dallas, telling them the rapper must have some power because he doubled his support from African-Americans ... according to a new poll.

Trump's citing a recent Reuters poll that says 22 percent of black males approve of the job he's doing as President -- doubling his last approval rating of 11 percent. It's unclear from the poll how black females feel.

As we reported ... the bro fest between Kanye and Trump has been going on for nearly 2 weeks. The rapper has voiced his love of the Prez, and even rocked a MAGA hat.

Clearly, the feeling of love is mutual ... at least for now.

3:00 PM PT -- We did some digging into the Reuters poll Trump was quoting, and turns out the 11 percent boost is based on polling only black men, for what it's worth. We also checked several other polls -- of men and women -- and there was still an increase, but only about 4 percent.

Hulkamania could once again run wild in the WWE -- TMZ Sports has learned plans to bring Hulk Hogan back to the squared circle are currently underway.

We've learned ... Hulk and high-ranking WWE officials have been in touch recently and it's been positive.

In fact, we're told when the WWE made plans for an event in Saudi Arabia, one of the members of the royal family specifically asked for Hulk to participate.

Ultimately, Hulk didn't go ... but it triggered a dialogue between the two sides. Also, Hulk and Vince McMahon both appeared in Bill Simmons' recent Andre the Giant documentary ... though, not together.

Of course, Hulk got the axe from WWE in 2015 after a racist N-word rant went public. Hulk apologized and several African-American wrestlers publicly offered their support for Hogan.

Now, we're told the WWE wants to bring him back into the fold -- and Hulk is down -- but everyone wants to make sure it's done "the right way."

We're told everyone wants to be sensitive to the audience that was offended by the racist rant -- while showing Hulk's learned from his mistakes and is a changed man.

Our sources say WWE was paying close attention to Hulk's speech at the Boys & Girls Club this week -- in which he said he wanted to help educate kids to not use the same language he did -- because they wanted to see how it was received. It went well with the crowd which gave Hogan a loud ovation.

We reached out to WWE ... who gave us the following statement.

"WWE applauds the work Hulk Hogan is doing with Boys & Girls Clubs of America to turn what was a negative into a positive by helping young people learn from his mistake. While he has taken many steps in the right direction since we parted ways, Hogan is not currently under contract to WWE."

Comedian Michael Blackson says he's seen firsthand how slavery wasn't a choice after visiting the Slave Castles in his native Ghana, but he's still willing to give Kanye a pass for his controversial comment.

We got Michael at LAX Thursday and he gave us -- but mostly Kanye -- a lesson about how African slaves were captured at gunpoint. He says Kanye couldn't possibly have meant what he said about slavery being a choice. MB says that would be the equivalent of saying Kim Kardashian chose to get robbed at gunpoint in Paris.

Michael, like many people, thinks Kanye's speaking without fully forming his ideas -- but he has a suggestion for him to snap out of it. Hint: think sunken place.

If you're thinking no one would pay $28k to see Donald Trump naked, think again because Zak Bagans did -- but wants to make it clear he's just in it for the history of it ... and maybe some dough.

The "Ghost Adventures" star and Haunted Museum owner outbid everyone for "The Emperor Has No Balls" statue ... better known as "the naked Donald Trump statue" Wednesday at Julien's Auctions.

The statue was made by West Coast anarchist collective INDECLINE and Zak says he was drawn to its mysteriousness. Five naked Donald Trumps popped up around the U.S. last year and at the time no one knew where they came from. The one Zak bought is the only one that wasn't ruined or confiscated.

It was estimated to fetch $20k at auction, but Zak was willing to pay $8k more than that. He's clearly betting the value will only go up, and someone will overpay him down the line.

12:40 PM PT -- Vogue just issued a statement to TMZ through its parent company, Conde Nast International, about the controversial cover, saying in part ... "In our latest cover shoot by Steven Klein, the vision was to create a beachwear-themed story with a stylized bronzing effect. We understand that the result has caused some debate with our readers, and we sincerely apologize if we have caused any offence."

Gigi Hadid is issuing a mea culpa for what many fans perceived to be her in blackface on the new cover of Vogue Italia ... even though she's not taking any of the blame.

Gigi posted a statement in reaction to a ton of backlash she and Vogue received Thursday, after she was featured on the magazine's May 2018 cover, saying she had no creative control of the shoot ... including whatever happened to the photo later in editing.

The model admits to getting bronzed up for the shoot -- noting that's the style the photographer, Steven Klein, likes to roll with for projects. She says she was aware she'd come off as slightly darker ... but cops to the ultimate execution being bungled.

10:14 AM PT -- It appears Kim made the trip with Kanye too ... she posted a photo Thursday morning of the game Guess Who? from inside the Wyoming property Kanye's staying at.

Kanye West has left L.A. for the Cowboy State ... to put the finishing touches on his 5 upcoming albums.

Sources tell TMZ, Kanye flew out of L.A. Wednesday for the secluded home he's rented in Wyoming ... literally on a mountaintop. Kanye's spent a lot of time there over the last few months, flying in various rappers and producers to help with his music.

We're told this is an extended stay ... at least several weeks.

And our sources say Kanye is not bothered by the fallout from his "TMZ Live" interview. To the contrary, he has told people the episode was "fire" and got people thinking ... which he says was his goal.

Our sources say Kanye will get a stream of visitors who will help him with the final touches.

The first album is due out May 25 ... and 4 more will follow.