Controversial S#!T

Hulk Hogan is back in the WWE's good graces three years after he was caught on tape using the n-word ... reclaiming his place in the wrestling organization's Hall of Fame.

WWE issued a statement Sunday, saying that after a 3-year suspension ... Hulk was being reinstated in their HOF. They go on to say that this second chance follows multiple apologies and volunteer work from Hulk ... this in the wake of his angry rant using the n-word, which was caught on his sex tape and leaked in 2015.

We broke the story ... Hulk has been in talks with WWE honchos to be brought back into the fold, though the wrestling legend wanted it done the right way.

Like the league notes, Hulk has, in fact, apologized many times over insisting the vile language does not reflect who he is as a person. He even referenced the scandal while being inducted into the Boys & Girls Club Hall of Fame earlier this year.

WWE mentioned the recent induction in their press release, saying he is helping young people learn from his mistake.

Conor McGregor got to sit in on the World Cup final in person this weekend, showing up as a guest of none other than Vladimir Putin.

The UFC star posted a photo of himself Sunday alongside Russia's president, posing like a tough guy with someone he calls "one of the greatest leaders of our time."

Conor's caption read ... "Today I was invited to the World Cup final as a guest of Russian President Vladimir Putin. This man is one of the greatest leaders of our time and I was honored to attend such a landmark event alongside him. Today was an honor for me Mr. Putin. Thank you and congratulations on an amazing World Cup."

He ended with "Go Russia" ... written in Russian. Hopefully they're both aware Russia got knocked out in the quarter finals, but that's beside the point. What's important (and weird) is that Conor is super chummy with Putin ... who's known as kind of a bad dude, depending on who you talk to.

D.L. Hughley's joining the ranks of some other celebs and athletes to say good riddance to John Schnatter, and says he isn't surprised 'Papa John' used a racial slur ... because he's a "horrible dude."

We got the comedian at LAX Saturday and asked if he was done with Papa John's pizza ... he tells us he has been for a while now, for the same reason ex-NFL star Thomas Jones told us -- it's s***ty.

D.L. has some other reasons, too -- saying Schnatter's completely disrespectful -- and jokes that maybe he took the same Ambien as Roseanne Barr.

Hughly also suggests the Papa John's founder is simply racist, and says if he wants to use the n-word like Colonel Sanders did he can ... but nowadays -- it'll cost ya big time.

As we reported ... Schnatter resigned from the University if Louisville's Board of Trustees and stepped down as chairman of Papa John's International this week after huge backlash over his comments made on a company conference call in May.

Pacman Jones isn't feelin' Colin Kaepernick -- telling TMZ Sports he does NOT support the players who took a knee during the national anthem ... and wants them to find a different way to protest.

Here's the deal ... we shot this clip on Tuesday at LAX just a few hours before Pacman was attacked at the airport in Atlanta. The fight story kinda knocked this clip off our radar for a while (obviously), but it's still pretty good.

"I'm all for standing for the anthem," Pacman told us ... "I have a couple of family members that have been over to Iraq."

Tekashi69 might flee the country if he's let out of jail before his extradition to Texas ... so, a judge in New York just denied his request for bail.

Tekashi and his attorneys were in court Thursday asking the judge to let him out on bail. We broke the story ... 6ix9ine was arrested Wednesday at JFK Airport on an outstanding warrant in Texas, where he allegedly choked a teenager in a mall.

The rapper pleaded for mercy, telling the judge he's learned his lesson while sitting behind bars for a day ... and added, he needs to support his mother and other family members. The judge wasn't having it and pointed out Tekashi was just in Europe ... and didn't appear to be taking the Texas case seriously.

Also, Tekashi took a plea deal in a child sex case which requires him to keep his nose clean. The judge told him that getting arrested multiple times since then hardly upholds his end of the deal.

Charlamagne Tha God is furious over new reports suggesting he sexually assaulted a teenage girl more than 17 years ago, since he was already cleared in a court of law ... and now he's lawyered up.

"The Breakfast Club" star's 2001 case is back in the headlines -- with his accuser now claiming she wants "closure" nearly 2 decades after officials dropped the criminal sexual assault with a minor charge against Char.

For the record, officials had always maintained that Charlamagne cooperated with the investigation and took a DNA test ... which did not produce any evidence that he had sexual contact with the girl.

Charlamagne did, however, plead guilty to contributing to the delinquency of a minor due to underage kids (including the accuser) drinking alcohol at the party he threw. He was sentenced to probation.

Now, Charlamagne -- real name Lenard McKelvey -- believes someone is dredging up the old case and fudging the facts in an effort to smear his name.

He's lawyered up with famed celebrity bulldog attorney Marty Singer and Michael Weinsten who tells TMZ, "More than seventeen years ago, Charlamagne was accused of a sexual assault. He never had sexual relations or any physical contact with the accuser and even provided DNA to prove it."

"At the time of these claims, Charlamagne cooperated fully with authorities, and after the investigation, this charge against him was dropped."

"Charlamagne has spoken about this many times over the years in public, including in his book. While Charlamagne has empathy for all sexual assault victims, he cannot take responsibility for a crime he did not commit.”

Common says there's now a zero-tolerance policy for using the n-word ... so he's not surprised former Papa John's founder John Schnatter is out of a job.

Here's the thing ... Common says he doesn't f*** with Papa John's anyway ... nonetheless, the decision to axe him was the right thing to do.

Mira Sorvino just revealed a shockingly disgusting story about a casting director who she says scared the crap outta her for a role ... by gagging her with a condom when she was 16.

She dropped the bombshell Wednesday during the Hollywood Foreign Press Association's "HFPA In Conversation" podcast. She says it was one of her very first auditions ... for a horror movie.

Mira -- who's also accused Harvey Weinstein of sexually harassing her multiple times in the '90s -- said the casting director claimed to be getting her in the mood for the horror scene by tying her to a chair and bruising her arm. Then, the condom.

She didn't name the casting director or the movie.

Gloria Allred thinks the new Supreme Court nominee puts President Trump one HUGE step closer to achieving his goal of overturning Roe v. Wade, and she's afraid Senators won't do a thing to stop it.

Allred is fired up about Judge Brett Kavanaugh's nomination to replace Anthony Kennedy on the High Court. The longtime women's rights advocate fears Kavanaugh will do Trump's bidding if he's confirmed. Before he was elected the Prez said he expects Roe v. Wade to be rolled back because he planned to appoint judges who are anti-abortion.

Gloria got very personal, opening up about the nearly fatal abortion she endured.

Kavanaugh has said he would follow Supreme Court precedent on the abortion issue -- but Allred doesn't trust him ... or the Senators who are expected to grill him during his confirmation hearing.

7/12 -- Schnatter has now also resigned as chairman of Papa John's International.

Papa John's founder John Schnatter is quitting his post at the University of Louisville after he was called out for using the n-word during a meeting to, ironically, discuss his comeback from a different controversy.

Schnatter resigned from the University's Board of Trustees Wednesday hours after the NAACP called for him to step down ... on the heels of Schnatter confirming reports he dropped the racial epithet back in May. The pizza mogul was on a conference call with a marketing agency he'd hired to help him deal with the blowback he faced for criticizing the NFL's national anthem policy.

Forbes reported Schnatter questioned why he was being criticized, because "Colonel Sanders called blacks n***ers" and got away with it. He also reportedly spoke nonchalantly about growing up in Indiana where black people were dragged to death.

The University of Louisville said it doesn't condone racism ... but added it doesn't think Schnatter's comments "reflect his personal beliefs or values."

Future wants some respect put on his name for giving young rappers a style to run with and a way to make a living, and he's got a point ... so says a fellow Atlanta rap legend.

We got Big Gipp -- who's part of Goodie Mob, Dungeon Family and other OG rap groups out of ATL -- and he says Future's recent Twitter rant calling on up-and-coming MCs to thank him for pioneering their styles and ad libs is more than just warranted ... it's overdue.

Gipp does mention a few rap acts by name -- calling out Migos and Lil Baby -- but it's unclear who exactly Future was referring to during his extended gripe.

Dear Lakers fans,

Don't plan the victory parade just yet.

Love,

Charles Barkley

The NBA legend was leaving Madeo in Beverly Hills on Tuesday when he hit Lakers nation with a cold, hard dose of reality -- LeBron James can't single-handedly save the Lake Show.

"He not gonna win next year," Barkley told our guy ... "Stop it, dude."

Barkley says Lebron's a great player, but they need to get better -- and tells TMZ Sports Magic Johnson needs to continue building out the roster and bringing in top talent before they can contend with the Warriors.

And, here's more Lakers dream-crushing -- Barkley says there's NO WAY IN HELL Kobe Bryant's coming out of retirement to play in the NBA.

Kim Kardashian West isn't alone in her fight to help women in California prison -- the Speaker of the State Assembly is on her side too, but ain't exactly crediting Kim's celebrity for sparking change.

TMZ broke the story, KKW made a visit to a women's prison Saturday ... then made a plea to Gov. Jerry Brown to sign a bill prohibiting male correctional officers from conducting pat down searches on female prisoners.

Before it gets to Gov. Brown, state lawmakers have to vote on it and Speaker of the State Assembly Anthony Rendon made it clear he's supporting the bill ... but definitely not because of Kim.

His press secretary tells TMZ ... "Unlike Donald Trump, the California Legislature doesn’t need awkward photo ops with Kim Kardashian to do what’s right."

It's an obvious pot shot at POTUS for the pic he took with KKW during her visit to the Oval Office to request a pardon for Alice Marie Johnson.

Sen. Cory Booker says President Trump's nomination of Brett Kavanaugh for the Supreme Court is nothing more than an insurance policy ... in case Robert Mueller comes knocking.

We got the NJ Senator Tuesday outside the Supreme Court building, and he unloaded on the President's SCOTUS pick ... saying the Trump stands to benefit most. Booker points out Mueller is waging a legal battle to get permission to interview POTUS for his investigation into whether Russia meddled with the election.

The Senator thinks that's where Kavanaugh could end up being Trump's ace in the hole ... because Mueller's legal war could end up in front of the Supreme Court.

RG3 doesn't seem too worried about fighting for a job against Joe Flacco and Lamar Jackson -- telling TMZ Sports he's got no fear when it comes to the Baltimore Ravens' upcoming QB competition.

Let's keep it 100 ... there's a good chance Robert Griffin III will be cut before the season begins -- but, when we saw the 28-year-old in L.A., he seemed ready for the challenge.

We also asked Robert if he feels he's returned to his 2012 form (when he dominated the league) -- but RG3 explained, "At this point in my career, I don't want to talk about [2012] anymore."

Fair enough ...

Robert says his new focus is making the Ravens' regular-season roster and tells TMZ Sports he's been bonding REALLY well with the other QBs.

'Love & Hip Hop' star Milan Christopher insists his castmate Teairra Mari's revenge porn case is NO case at all ... because he claims SHE, not her ex-bf, leaked the sex video behind the lawsuit.

Quick refresher ... Milan's the guy who was with Teairra when she allegedly smashed her ex Akbar Abdul-Ahad's car with a metal pole. She claims he posted their sex vid to humiliate her after she dumped his ass.

However, Milan tells us Teairra's claims just don't add up when he thinks about the timeline the morning she told him about the allegedly leaked video. He also has a theory about why she'd lie. Hint: it involves professional help.

As we reported ... Teairra sued Akbar, along with 50 Cent ... and her lawyer, Lisa Bloom, claims to have a significant piece of evidence implicating Akbar, who denies being the source of the leak.