Controversial S#!T

ABC just made it official -- as TMZ first reported ... it's giving the greenlight to a new Roseanne Barr-free version of 'Roseanne,' and it's coming back this fall.

The network says the show's working title is "The Conners" and it will be in the Tuesday night, 8 PM slot. We broke the story ... negotiations with Barr were the only hold-up in going forward with the show. ABC says Tom Werner, of production company Carsey-Werner, reached a settlement with Barr ... and she'll have no financial or creative stake in the new sitcom.

All the other actors from the smash hit reboot are coming back. The show was TV's highest rated sitcom in over three years after its premiere in March -- but ABC pulled the plug after Barr's racist tweet aimed at former Obama aide, Valerie Jarrett.

The only remaining loose end appears to be how Roseanne will be written out of the show ... something we asked former executive producer, Whitney Cummings about a couple weeks ago.

Tekashi69 believes UK customs agents refused him entry into the country because of his recent rap beefs ... and concocted lies about his criminal past just to keep him out.

6ix9ine was set to play 2 sold-out shows this week -- one in London, and another in Manchester. We're told the rapper was held at immigration Thursday for 12 hours after arriving from Belgium.

Sources close to 6ix9ine tell us customs agents repeatedly told the rapper they flagged him because he spent more than 12 months behind bars ... a buzz kill for foreigners who want to enter the country. Our sources say, not only has Tekashi never spent anywhere near 12 months behind bars, his team worked months in advance to insure he had all the proper paperwork and sponsors for entry.

Not only were the UK shows sold out, we're told they were also big time business opportunities for Tekashi as he planned on livestreaming them for fans on Xstreampass.

Our sources say Tekashi and crew feel the real reason they were refused entry is because of Tekashi's recent antics, including his feud with Chief Keef, and they've made stuff up to illegally bar him.

LaVar Ball has heard the trade rumors involving Lonzo Ball going to the Spurs ... and has a message for the Lakers:

"If they wanna trade him, trade him. It'll be the worst move they ever made."

LaVar went off at his JBA season opener on Thursday afternoon -- when we asked about the rumblings that Magic Johnson could ship Lonzo to San Antonio to get Kawhi Leonard.

"If they wanna trade him, trade him. If they don't wanna trade him, keep him. He's gonna do his thing. I'm not worried about no trades.

LaVar says he's still 100% confident all 3 of his boys will eventually play on the same NBA team, despite the fact LiAngelo wasn't drafted on Thursday.

"He'll come in the back door as a free agent," LaVar explained.

Melania Trump's getting destroyed on social media for wearing what most would consider a tone-deaf jacket ... considering she wore it on her way to visit child detention centers in Texas.

As she boarded the plane Thursday in D.C., Melania was rocking a green trenchcoat with bold lettering on the back that read, "I REALLY DON'T CARE, DO U?" It's a ZARA jacket that retails for about $40.

The First Lady made a surprise visit to McAllen, Texas ... where hundreds, if not thousands, of immigrant children are being held after they were separated from their parents crossing the border. Melania said she was there to help reunite children with their families.

No one's gonna argue with her decision to make the trip, but her wardrobe selection's a whole other story.

FLOTUS' spokeswoman, Stephanie Grisham, has said, "It's a jacket. There was no hidden message. After today's important visit to Texas, I hope the media isn't going to choose to focus on her wardrobe."

Melania Trump unexpectedly showed up to a border facility to get a firsthand look at what's going on ... and offer a lending hand in reuniting children with their parents.

The First Lady arrived at a child detention center Thursday in Texas and started her visit by recognizing the medical staff, social workers and other employees for their "heroic work" in caring for kids separated from their families.

Melania said, "I want to thank you for your hard work, your compassion and your kindness you're giving them in these difficult times." She added, her goal is to learn more about the situation and help out in any way she can.

Her trip comes the day after President Trump signed an executive order to keep families at the border together. He told reporters Thursday, Melania went to the border because she's been bothered by what's going on there.

According to the Washington Post ... Border Patrol agents have been instructed to stop sending parents with children to federal courthouses for prosecution. The White House hasn't confirmed.

Paris Hilton voted for President Trump, but she is calling him out for separating children from their families at the border -- and she's demanding her longtime family friend to do better.

Paris was leaving Delilah Wednesday night in WeHo when she went off on Trump, telling us ... "This is inhumane. NO child should be treated this way. I'm disgusted."

Her family and the Trumps have been tight all her life -- but watch the clip ... sounds like she's ready to turn her back on him now.

Kobe Bryant just got rejected at the rim by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences -- which just denied membership to the Mamba ... claiming he doesn't have a good enough body of work.

You know what he does have? AN OSCAR!!!!

Kobe won the Academy Award for Best Animated Short for "Dear Basketball" -- which was based off a retirement letter he published on The Players' Tribune back in 2015.

Kobe is credited as the executive producer and writer of the film.

Worth noting, Oscar winners are automatically considered for membership -- but it's not a shoe-in. The board votes on who gets membership based on a specific criteria.

One of the items on the checklist for producers -- "have the equivalent of 2 producer screen credits and perform the majority of the functions of a producer on theatrical feature films of the caliber which in the opinion of the executive committee reflect the high standards of the Academy."

For the record, Kobe produced the docu-series 'Muse' -- but it doesn't appear that would qualify under the Academy's standards because it was produced for TV.

Still, there are some people who believe the membership denial is due to Kobe's controversial past and the rise of the #MeToo movement.

Despite the fact Kobe was cheered on by the Academy when he won at the Oscars, there has been serious blowback.

Mira Sorvino's echoing the outrage millions of Americans feel about immigrant families being separated at the border, but is hopeful President Trump could really end it ... if he only had a heart.

The Oscar-winning actress was at LAX Wednesday, and told us she's cautiously optimistic about the executive order Trump just signed, reversing the policy he enacted last month. She didn't mince words ... blasting Trump for deliberately making a choice to destroy families' lives.

She's also fed up with politicians and talking heads blaming previous Presidents. Mira puts the blame squarely on 45.

As we reported, the President signed the executive order to keep families together, but made it clear the "zero-tolerance" prosecution of illegal immigrants will continue.

Corey Lewandowski's "Womp womp" comment stooped to a new low but, the truth is, even though he was pissed off about it ... Zac Petkanas says he wasn't completely shocked.

We spoke to Zac -- the Democratic strategist who had a fiery live TV exchange with Trump's former campaign manager -- and he tells us Lewandowski's quip about the disabled immigrant child being separated from her mom personifies everything about this White House.

As we reported ... Corey made the snarky remark when Petkanas was trying to bring light to one of the many heartbreaking stories unfolding on the southern border. It appears the outcry from millions of Americans has finally pressured Trump to reverse course.

Nick Young's thrilled marijuana is becoming legal across the country ... but he's already onto the next issue -- COKE!!!

"I want people to pass cocaine," the NBA star told TMZ Sports outside 1 OAK on Tuesday night ... "Everybody needs to do cocaine!"

For the record, cocaine isn't illegal everywhere -- did you know blow is sorta legal in Colombia where people can possess 1 gram or less? There's similar laws in the Czech Republic and Uruguay.

And, there's been a real argument that legalizing all drugs could actually benefit the society.

Aside from the booger sugar convo, we also spoke with Swaggy about LeBron James, the Warriors and how he's blinging out his brand new NBA Championship ring!

Also ... kids, don't do drugs.

11:30 AM PT -- Swaggy P just issued a statement saying CHILLAX -- he was just kidding around.

Senator Cory Booker says Trump's former campaign manager has a long way to go to live up to all the honorable men who share his name.

The New Jersey Senator responded with a little levity Wednesday on Capitol Hill when our photog asked about Corey Lewandowski mocking a girl with Down syndrome being separated from her parents at the border.

Booker was not aware of Corey's "womp, womp" comment, but still didn't hold back from taking a jab at him ... drawing from his rather extensive knowledge of pop culture to make his point.

For the record, all the Coreys mentioned by Booker spell their name with an -ey at the end ... but the Senator just goes with a -y.

Tim Kaine says President Trump is full of it and, despite what he says ... his true mission is to stop all immigration in the U.S. -- not just people coming here illegally.

We got the Virginia Senator at Capitol Hill in D.C. Wednesday and, after completely dismissing what Ann Coulter claims about kids in detention camps ... he put the Prez on blast for rejecting a bipartisan deal in February that would have helped Dreamers and provided $25 BILLION in border security.

Kaine says the real deal with Trump is ... he's obsessed with making life miserable for all immigrants -- legal and illegal -- and punishing kids, and his demand for more border security is just a guise.

Kirstjen Nielsen -- the Secretary of Homeland Security -- busted out a walk of shame after a group of protesters disrupted her dinner at -- of all places -- a Mexican restaurant.

The incident went down Tuesday night at the popular MXDC Cocina Mexicana Restaurant near the White House ... where Nielsen sat in the back surrounded by her security detail and waited for dinner.

That's when a group from the Metro DC Democratic Socialists of America showered her with boos and grilled her about Trump's inhumane policy to separate children from their parents crossing the border.

The group asked her, "Aren't you a mother too? How do you sleep at night?" and "Do you hear babies crying?" The group also chanted "shame" and "end family separation" ... and 10 minutes into the ordeal, it proved too much for Nielsen to handle because she bounced.

Jay-Z says the NFL approached him to perform at the Super Bowl -- but he shot them down saying, "You need me, I don't need you."

It's all part of Jay and Beyonce's new song, "Apesh*t" (featuring Quavo and Offset), which dropped this past weekend. Scroll to 3:31.

One of the key lyrics is when Jay says, "I said no to the Super Bowl: you need me, I don't need you. Every night we in the endzone, tell the NFL we in stadiums too."

Seems to imply Jay rejected the NFL over the handling of the Colin Kaepernick kneeling situation -- a situation Jay has publicly criticized the league for in the past.

Another clue ... in the music video, Jay features at least 11 people taking a knee during that line.

There were reports back in Sept. 2017 that Jay gave a thumbs-down to the NFL -- but he hadn't commented before and the NFL essentially denied it saying no decisions had been made.

Corey Lewandowski had a brash -- and incredibly callous -- response to a story about a 10-year-old girl with Down syndrome being taken from her mother at the border ... and it set off a fiery live TV exchange.

Trump's former campaign manager was a guest on Fox News Tuesday afternoon along with Zac Petkanas, a former senior DNC adviser. The 2 got into a heated argument after Lewandowski dropped a "Womp, womp" about the disabled immigrant child being separated from her mom and sent to a detention facility.

Petkanas was beyond incensed, screaming, "How dare you, sir?!" repeatedly ... while Lewandowski tried to shout him down.

Michelle Obama might be from the Midwest and live on the East Coast, but no one needs to school her on nailing the business cas' look in L.A.

The former First Lady joined some of her colleagues for lunch at the ritzy Gjelina restaurant in Venice ... easily pulling off the beachy business meeting look thanks to those shades, sandals and soft colors. It was also easy to figure out a big shot was in town ... with her Secret Service motorcade tipping off the locals.