Controversial S#!T

Charles Barkley clearly thinks Dennis Rodman made a huge mistake getting into bed with Kim Jong-un ... calling the guy a brutal dictator -- but says he's sort of giving The Worm a pass.

Our photog argued that Rodman deserves credit for setting up the historic meeting between the leader of North Korea and President Trump -- but Barkley shut our guy down.

"Dude, he's a dictator. He treats people like crap. Stop it," Barkley argued.

But, when it came to judging Rodman's role in the summit, Barkley would only says he loves the guy and wouldn't give him credit.

By the way, with the NBA Draft coming up on Thursday -- we asked Chuck if he thought LiAngelo Ball had a shot at getting his name called ... and he didn't say no!

Cesar Millan's sad about what's happening in America -- with immigrant families being torn apart -- but believes there could be a way to fix it ... get President Trump a dog!!

We got the famed pup whisperer at LAX Tuesday, and he went to bat for all of the immigrants in the U.S. ... pointing out how he "jumped the border" himself years ago, and is now a tax-paying citizen who contributes to the country.

His message to the Prez doesn't stop there, because he suggests a canine companion is what Trump needs to soften his spirit, become more human ... and stop separating kids from their parents.

"Riverdale" star Charles Melton is apologizing and blaming immaturity for some really heinous fat-shaming comments he made that have come back to haunt him.

Melton is addressing the now 6-year-old tweets that have gone viral after someone mined them out of his timeline. Low lights include, "Word of wisdom for the day...if your [sic] fat...don't look in the mirror" ... and "Don't tease fat kids, they already have enough on their plates."

Melton now says, "I'm truly sorry for making inconsiderate comments several years ago and apologize to anyone I hurt. What I posted and said was immature, offensive and inappropriate. I am ashamed of how I acted and there is no excuse for that behavior."

The actor was a total unknown back in 2012, which explains the tweets going unnoticed. His first acting gig didn't come until a "Glee" role in 2014.

Ann Coulter's spewing a wild new theory about kids in detention camps ... claiming the kids are all part of a huge "political stunt" designed to destroy America.

Coulter was out in NYC Tuesday when we asked her if she's seen the latest pictures of kids being held in cages while their parents are criminally prosecuted under the Trump administration's strict new policies.

Coulter's adamant the kids are actors ... though she offers ZERO proof. In the past she's claimed a New Yorker article backs her "actors" theory, but we, and others, have dug for such an article -- to no avail.

We reminded her Laura Bush and several other former First Ladies have called the camps inhumane while speaking out against Trump's policy. Well, Coulter even gave them a piece of her mind, too.

There's no denying, Coulter's fired up here -- but ya might wanna take it with a grain of salt.

Actually, grab the whole shaker.

LiAngelo Ball is finally ready to laugh at that whole international crime incident in China ... and he's doing it all for a new Foot Locker commercial.

Remember, it was just 7 months ago ... Gelo -- along with 2 teammates from UCLA -- were detained in China after stealing several pairs of designer sunglasses and other accessories from multiple stores in Hangzhou.

UCLA -- along with Chinese billionaire Jack Ma -- worked with Chinese officials to bring the players back home. LiAngelo left UCLA a short time later and moved to Lithuania to play pro ball overseas.

Now, Ball is joking about the whole situation for Foot Locker's new "One and Done" campaign ... in which the host brags that the new apparel is an "absolute steal," while cutting to Gelo.

The host jokingly realizes his mistake and says he meant to say, "The price is so good it must be criminal."

Get it?! Good times ...

Milwaukee Bucks player Sterling Brown has filed a lawsuit against the Milwaukee police officers who hit him with a stun gun during a January arrest.

In the suit, obtained by TMZ Sports, Brown claims he feared for his life as officers shoved him, tased him and stomped on his leg ... in a dispute over a parking space.

As we previously reported, Brown was confronted by a group of Milwaukee Police Dept. officers around 2 AM on Jan. 26 outside of a Walgreens -- where his car was parked in two handicap spaces.

Cops aggressively approached Brown and escalated the situation -- ultimately choosing to take him down by force ... and tasing him.

In his suit, Brown claims ... "shortly after Defendants threw Mr. Brown to the ground, [one of the officers] used his right foot to stomp on Mr. Brown’s leg. Then after the Taser was shot into Mr. Brown’s back, [the officer] proceeded to stomp on Mr. Brown’s leg with both feet."

Video of the incident shows Brown never made an aggressive move toward cops or really did anything warranting the violent takedown.

Jay-Z and Beyonce dropping their surprise album the day after Nas released his, has many fans thinking the legendary Jay-Nas beef is back, but this won't be a throwback to 2001 ... TMZ has learned.

Sources close to Nas tell us the Queensbridge rapper isn't fuming about "Everything Is Love" being released on Saturday, and doesn't think the Carters will steal any thunder from his new album, "Nasir." We're told Nas fully appreciates the fact Jay and Bey are hip-hop royalty at this point, and actually really likes their new record.

If you don't know, and you should, Nas and Jay had a huge feud going in the late '90s and early 2000s. They went at each other in songs and interviews for years before burying the whole thing in 2005.

They've been friends ever since, and we're told Nas is more interested in "black excellence" these days ... rather than drama.

Sorry, Internet. See Tekashi69 or Bhad Bhabie if you're looking for smoke this week.

Connor Obrochta from "The Bachelorette" wants his fellow contestant Lincoln Adim's attention ... so he can tell him to stay the hell away from Becca Kufrin and the rest of her suitors when they reunite for the 'Tell All' episode.

We spoke to Connor and it's crystal clear the fitness coach from Florida was never a fan of Lincoln (they had a spat early in the season) and especially now that Lincoln's dark past has surfaced.

As we reported ... Lincoln was charged with indecent assault and battery a week before the premiere, after allegedly groping a woman's breasts and grinding up on her aboard a ship.

Connor says hearing about Lincoln's dirty laundry rubbed him the wrong way. Check it out ... Connor says Lincoln's gonna get his ass handed to him if he decides to show up to the 'Tell All' episode, which hasn't filmed yet.

Ex-ESPN reporter Ed Werder is calling out a Sports Illustrated writer -- claiming her hiring practices are completely unfair ... because she's discriminating against MEN.

Yes, you read that correctly.

Here's the deal ... SI tweeted out an ad looking for an entry-level news writer -- which was retweeted by SI senior writer Charlotte Wilder, who added the following caption:

"If you can stand sitting near me in the office this is a v cool opportunity. Especially if you're a woman trying to get into sports, you should message me — DMs are open."

Werder had a big problem with Wilder's post ... saying, "So men need not apply? Any others ineligible?"

Wilder responded, "Oh WOW you're right, Ed, sorry for attempting to make sports media more than 10% female, my bad."

Werder: "I just always associated SI with hiring the best regardless of race, sex and other factors."

The conversation went on. Someone later asked Ed why he was so upset. He responded:

"Because next week I’m going to be standing in front of a broadcasting class of young people and some will be males and I have to tell them they have the same chance at jobs like those one as all others."

Before you get upset ... one of Ed's former ESPN colleague, Mina Kimes -- a senior writer at ESPN The Magazine -- chimed in and basically spelled it out for him.

"Encouraging women to apply for a position isn't the same thing as 'excluding' men. it's helping female applicants network, which can be a challenge given the massive gender imbalance in our industry (which I'm sure you know exists)."

Doug Christie -- one of the players on Dennis Rodman's '14 basketball trip to North Korea -- says there's NO WAY he'd return ... unless LeBron James was involved.

Christie -- along with Kenny Anderson, Vin Baker and other ex-NBA stars -- famously traveled to Pyongyang to play an exhibition game for Kim Jong-un. They called it "basketball diplomacy."

But, Christie tells us the trip wasn't exactly peaches and cream -- saying, "I kissed the ground when I got back."

Doug tells TMZ Sports he does believe the trip helped lay the groundwork for Donald Trump to meet with Kim Jong-un, which he believes is a positive thing ... and he's praising Rodman for his role.

"The Goldbergs" star Wendi McLendon-Covey says there's not much difference between children held at the border and those in concentration camps ... and she's scolding politicians for thinking otherwise.

We got Wendi at LAX Friday morning, where she shamed Attorney General Jeff Sessions for using the Bible as an excuse for separating kids from their parents who were just gunning for a better life in the U.S.

There have been photos circulating of children allegedly locked up behind fences and in cages, and Wendi says it's like God has indeed left the building.

12:10 PM PT -- AMC Networks says Hardwick's show, "Talking with Chris Hardwick," will not air while it assesses the situation, and he is stepping aside from moderating planned AMC and BBC America panels at Comic-Con in San Diego next month.

AMC adds ... "We have had a positive working relationship with Chris Hardwick for many years. We take the troubling allegations that surfaced yesterday very seriously."

Chris Hardwick is losing another gig in the wake of his ex girlfriend, Chloe Dykstra, claiming he emotionally and sexually abused her.

The Kaaboo Festival in Del Mar, CA says it's pulled Hardwick out of the lineup for this year. The annual music and comedy event doesn't go down until September, but organizers already made up their mind -- Hardwick will not perform his comedy routine, and a replacement act is TBA.

As we reported ... Nerdist scrubbed all of Hardwick's content on Friday, hours after Chloe posted an emotionally charged essay with details of the alleged abuse. She claims Hardwick forced her to have sex and made her live under strict rules.

Bruce Maxwell -- the only MLB player to kneel during the national anthem -- went off on cops during his Oct. 2017 arrest ... telling police he took a knee to protest "y'all motherf*ckers."

As we previously reported, Maxwell was arrested for aggravated assault at his AZ home after allegedly pulling a gun on a Postmates driver.

When cops arrived, Maxwell -- not wearing a shirt -- began berating the police officers.

"Think I'm intimidated? Cool. Cool. I hope so. I’m not afraid of f*cking none of y’all n*ggas. I don’t give a f*ck."

He continued, "Guess what, f*cking half of America afraid of y’all motherf*ckers. Yeah, that’s the reason why I took a knee. F*cking anthem, dog."

"F*cking our country is afraid of the f*cking police. Wanna know why? Because the f*cking police does unjustice sh*t and gets f*cking paid leave for it."

Maxwell explained he's mixed race -- "My mom is white as sh*t. My dad is black as a motherf*cker."

Later in the video, Maxwell gets emotional as he tells cops he and his family received death threats for his national anthem protest.

For their part, cops say Maxwell reeked of booze. He was transported to a nearby jail.

Rep. Steve King doesn't understand the fuss over immigrant children being placed in detention centers -- after separation from their parents -- because he says they're getting great care and having more fun than most American kids.

The Iowa Congressman was in D.C. Friday when he addressed the outcry ... telling us he's visited one of the centers, and found it totally hospitable. He raved about the kids getting exercise, meals, and a warm place to sleep -- not to mention medical treatment that surpasses what they get in their native countries.

Of course, what they they don't have are their parents.

King, a Republican, insinuates the Democrats are spinning this into a controversy, and adds ... the centers were open during Obama's administration and no one complained then.

One side note, relevant to the immigration issue ... King came under fire this week for retweeting British Neo-Nazi Mark Collett's take on immigration. He has not deleted it.

Danielle Bregoli's wasting little time on her haters these days, and spending more time selling out shows on the Sunset Strip and talking up collabs with Kanye West and Travis Scott.

We got Bhad Bhabie heading into her packed show Thursday night at The Roxy. Seriously, you gotta see the long ass line down Sunset ... which made us wonder if she had a message for all the people who doubted her as a legit rapper. Of course she does.

Remember, she's certified gold now and Lil Yachty rocks with her -- but she wants more. Danielle told us she's actually feeling the new music from Kanye ... the guy she once called the worst. And even though she went surgical on his baby mama, she's still hoping to get in studio with Travis.

Why not swing for the fences when you're only 15?

Danielle put on quite the show, btw, and singer Pia Mia helped hype the crowd.

Riff Raff's going all out to defend himself against recent sexual misconduct allegations, and he's doing it in a very cocky way. It's what he does.

The eccentric rapper shot this video, with his lawyer watching and listening, and adamantly denies doing anything illegal with women. He could have stopped there but, instead, he bragged about his sexual exploits.

As Riff puts it ... "Never once have I ever had to drag a girl to the car, never once have I ever had to drag a girl to a hotel, up flights of steps, to have sex with a dead starfish in my room."

The rapper's Australia and New Zealand tour was canceled 2 weeks ago after he was accused of drugging and raping a Melbourne woman at one of his shows in 2013. Another woman then came forward and accused him of sexual misconduct when she was a minor in 2015.

Riff started to tell us he's just like his heroes -- Hugh Hefner and Dan Bilzerian -- and that's when his lawyer cut him off, and simplified their defense ... denying the allegations and labeling them defamatory.