Controversial S#!T

Kyle Kuzma knows all about the rumors that he could get shipped out of L.A. -- but tells TMZ Sports he's not bothered by the trade talk ... and assures Lakers fans he wants to stay put.

The NBA star was leaving lunch at Via Alloro in Beverly Hills on Thursday where he told us he can't focus on front office stuff he can't control -- his only option is to work on getting better as a player.

We also talked about Stephen A. Smith's report that LeBron reached out to Kevin Durant about joining the Lakers together ... but Kuz said he ain't buyin' that one at all.

One thing he is excited about ... Zion Williamson -- the high school prodigy who's playing at Duke next year.

Melania Trump just made it as clear as black and white ... she's NOT about to get caught in another wardrobe firestorm en route to her second trip to the border.

The First Lady touched down in Tucson Thursday dressed to the nines -- and this time -- without controversy. As we reported ... Melania was shredded for a jacket she wore last week that read, "I REALLY DON'T CARE, DO U?" on her way to visit immigration detainment facilities.

Melania took the jacket off before she arrived to her destination, but had it back on when she got back to D.C.

As for an explanation for her choice in wardrobe and the jacket ... FLOTUS' spokeswoman, Stephanie Grisham, had said "there was no hidden message."

11:13 AM PT -- Jessica Peet tells TMZ ... "I want to apologize for what I posted as a 14-year-old teenager. In no way did I mean it in a derogatory nor racial way. I do hope people are willing to forgive, and understand I was immature and I've done a lot of growing up since then."

One of the 'Survivor' contestants from the upcoming season is catching heat before the show even airs ... for using the n-word so much on Twitter, you'd think she was Jay-Z.

19-year-old Jessica Peet is a cast member on "Survivor: David vs. Goliath" and, as it always does ... the Internet scoured her social media, and turned up scores of old tweets where she gratuitously drops the n-word.

She even defends using it, saying, "n***a isn't a cuss word !! Lol" -- and, in another, adds ... "I have a way with words..... N***a." Indeed.

The tweets, which 'Survivor' fans grabbed before they were deleted, are from 2013 to 2015. Many fans online are calling Peet a racist.

Sources close to the production tell TMZ ... CBS is aware of the situation, and Peet apologized by saying she was "young and dumb." She would've been between 14 and 16 at the time.

This drama comes on the heels of a pair of upcoming contestants getting into hot water for breaking their NDAs by posting a pic together ... before CBS revealed the cast.

Wayne Rooney -- one of the most famous soccer players in the world -- has made it official ... he's joining D.C. United ... and his first game in the MLS is in TWO WEEKS!!

The team announced Rooney's arrival with a dope hype video ... titling it, "#NoWayneNoGain."

The ex-Everton star is a British legend on the pitch ... and his arrival has plenty of people gassed up for American soccer -- including Rooney himself, who says, "All right D.C. Let's get to work."

But, not everyone's as charged up about the move ... with Alexi Lalas telling TMZ Sports just a month ago that there's no way Rooney's arrival will "move the needle" when it comes to MLS interest.

Kim Kardashian doesn't seem to have the word awkward in her vocabulary, 'cause she asked the guy who cheated on her sister to unblock her on social media ... right to his face.

Kim was celebrating Khloe Kardashian's 34th birthday Wednesday evening in L.A., with none other than Tristan Thompson in attendance. As you'll recall, Khloe and the NBA star seem to have moved past his cheating scandal while she was pregnant with their kid.

Same goes for Kim too, actually. She straight-up asked Tristan to unblock her on Instagram ... and recorded him doing it as well. Talk about Queen of Confrontation, sheesh.

Anthony Scaramucci says he knows a lot ... he knows who Trump will pick to replace Justice Anthony Kennedy, and he knows the fate of Roe vs. Wade.

We got The Mooch Wednesday night in WeHo leaving Craig's, and he seems to be saying Trump or his people have confided in him about the person who will get nominated. He says he believes Thomas Hardiman (Mooch mispronounces his name) will be the guy. Hardiman's on the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals ... that's where Trump's sister, Maryanne Trump Barry, sat and she's a big fan of Hardiman's.

He's got an interesting background ... he's the first in his fam to graduate college. He drove a taxi to pay tuition. He's also super conservative.

Scarlett Johansson's fired up about a former Scientologist making a claim -- on live TV -- that she once auditioned to date Tom Cruise ... and she's not letting him get away with it.

The 'Avengers' star put Brendan Tighe -- who says he used to work on Cruise's Scientology security team -- on blast after he appeared on Megyn Kelly's NBC show Wednesday and claimed she was on a list of women who auditioned to date him after his split from Nicole Kidman years ago.

Johansson tells The Hollywood Reporter, "The very idea of any person auditioning to be in a relationship is so demeaning. I refuse for anyone to spread the idea that I lack the integrity to choose my own relationships."

She added ... "Only a man aka Brendan Tighe would come up with a crazy story like that."

Tighe also claimed Scarlett's audition must not have gone well, because actress and Scientologist Erika Christensen had to distance herself from her afterward.

Donald Trump's cringeworthy comment comparing a murder victim to Tom Selleck didn't upset anyone that truly matters ... so says the deceased man's mom.

Agnes Gibboney -- the mother of Ronald da Silva, whose portrait Trump compared to Selleck "except better looking" -- tells us she took no offense to the President's remark about Ron last week. To the contrary ... she was flattered.

She says tons of people have told her that her late son looks like the famous TV P.I. -- and that if she really thought the comment was distasteful ... she wouldn't have laughed along with everyone else.

Terry Crews is refusing to fire back at 50 Cent with insults after the rapper trolled his sexual assault case against a Hollywood agent -- instead, he's dropping facts.

We got Terry in D.C. Tuesday and asked him how he felt about 50 mocking him on Instagram. He took the high road, saying he loves 50 and listens to his music when he works out.

As for the crude meme 50 posted -- which suggests it's not possible for Crews to be sexually assaulted because he's big and muscular -- Terry had a direct message for him, explaining why Fiddy's way off base.

Crews was on Capitol Hill Tuesday to testify for the Senate Judiciary Committee about his experience with sexual assault. As we reported, he got emotional explaining why he didn't physically respond when WME talent agent Adam Venit allegedly groped his genitals.

Terry Crews says he had to fight every instinct to not get physical after a WME talent agent allegedly groped his genitals in 2016 -- and he got very emotional discussing it on Capitol Hill.

The "Brooklyn Nine-Nine" star testified about sexual assault Tuesday in front of the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee, giving insight into his own experience.

When CA Senator Dianne Feinstein asked Crews why he didn't physically respond to Adam Venit after the agent allegedly touched his privates at a party, he was blunt -- saying it's about consequences black men in America face every day if they resort to violence.

Claudia Jordan just took the Red Hen controversy with Sarah Huckabee Sanders to a new level ... shaming the woman over her weight as justification for her getting booted.

We got the ex-'RHOA' star arriving at Catch in WeHo Monday night, where we asked for her take on Trump's Press Secretary getting kicked out of the Virginia restaurant because she's the White House mouthpiece. Claudia gives a pretty kosher response ... at first.

Thomas Markle thinks the Royal Family is putting him in the "penalty box" after his "Good Morning Britain" interview a week ago, especially since President Trump is getting to meet Her Majesty before him.

Thomas tells TMZ, he hasn't spoken with anyone from the palace since last week's interview. Not even his daughter, Meghan ... who, of course, has been busy with royal stuff.

Markle thinks he's getting the cold shoulder, and tells TMZ ... “If the Queen is willing to meet our arrogant, ignorant, and insensitive president she has no excuse not to meet me, I’m nowhere near as bad.” Trump's scheduled to meet Elizabeth in the U.K. next month.

Despite the perceived diss ... Thomas says he still has every intention of crossing the pond to see Meghan, and finally meet Harry. As for QE2 ... fingers crossed!

Chris Paul is going to bat for his teammate -- saying James Harden deserved to win MVP over LeBron James ... but now, he needs to add an NBA title to his resume.

"He's gonna get that too," CP3 told TMZ Sports on the way out of Catch ... "but he deserved the MVP."

There's an argument James got screwed at the NBA Award ceremony Monday night -- since he played in more games than Harden, scored more points than Harden, got more rebounds, more assists and took his team further with less talent around him.

But, Rockets coach Mike D'Antoni is also siding with Paul -- saying Harden was "without a doubt" the best player in the league and "has been ready to get [MVP] for the last 3 years."

Congressman Steve King says ya got it all wrong if you think President Trump's the one fueling all the political vitriol in America -- because he says then-Sen. Barack Obama started it 10 years ago!!

We asked the distinguished gentleman from Iowa about Sarah Huckabee Sanders getting booted, gently, from Red Hen restaurant in Lexington, VA. King was at Reagan National Airport Monday when he said the writing's on the wall ... and pretty soon EVERYthing in America will be split down political lines.

Of course, the widely held theory is Trump started all this nastiness during the campaign and it's just gotten worse -- almost tweet-by-tweet -- throughout his administration.

But King laid out a different theory -- one that lays blame at the feet of 3 Democrats ... Obama, Hillary Clinton and John Edwards. And he says ground zero for today's political divisiveness is South Carolina.

George Lopez is taking Melania Trump's disgustingly poor fashion choice and turning it into cold hard cash, baby -- and he's planning to use it to show he really DOES care.

George and D.L. Hughley stepped out this weekend in a couple of jackets jabbing the First Lady's "I Really Don't Care, Do You?" jacket she wore during her trip last week to visit children in border camps. George's said, "Keep the Kids, Deport the Racist" ... and D.L. provided an exclamation with his "Fo Real tho!"

The response online was so strong ... George is now working with Kristin Fedyk and Alberto Hernandez, co-owners of the Inland store in Venice, CA to hawk his gear. It'll be available in-store and via Lopez's online store for $99 a pop. Tees will go for $19.99.

Melania caught a ton of flack for her jacket, but George is trying to create a silver lining.

TV personality Rabbi Shmuley Boteach says America is becoming too unforgiving ... and Roseanne's teary apology should warrant some sympathy.

Audio of Roseanne breaking down in an interview recorded with Boteach, just days after Barr blasted out her racist tweet, was released this weekend.

Boteach was on "TMZ Live" Monday and, while he doesn't totally agree with Barr's words, he thinks those attacking her should pull back just a little more.

The way Boteach sees it ... Roseanne has a history of pushing buttons, but not being a racist ... and her apology in the interview with him should be enough for her to be forgiven.