Controversial S#!T

Fat Joe thinks Eric Benet is TRIPPINNNN' by saying "rich and famous" rappers that glorify the darker sides of hip-hop are proxies to white supremacy ... 'cause they're just tunes, bro.

We got the legendary New York MC over on the West Coast Monday in Bev Hills, where our photog asked if Joe had seen Eric's hot take on certain rap serving a nefarious purpose.

Eric posted a message on IG saying that rappers who promote killing black people, degrading black women, abusing drugs, materialization or living a low life are not artists ... but actual agents of white supremacy -- and are being used to destroy their own race.

Destroying Donald Trump's Hollywood Walk of Fame star with a pickax just got real for Austin Clay ... because he's now facing the possibility of several years in jail.

The L.A. County D.A. slapped him with one count of felony vandalism for obliterating -- on video, obtained by TMZ -- the President's star. If he's found guilty, Clay could get a max sentence of 3 years in county jail.

As we reported, Clay put pickax to concrete almost 2 weeks ago. He eventually turned himself in to cops. Trump's star has since become a battle ground for pro- and anti-Trump groups ... with several brawls breaking out there.

Although it's already been repaired, Clay told us he'd like to the see the city remove Trump's star permanently ... to avoid further violence.

Matt Barnes says "dumbass" Donald Trump is crazy for going after LeBron James on Twitter -- telling TMZ Sports he's convinced POTUS is a racist.

Barnes played against James for years in the NBA and was VERY offended when Trump attacked the NBA superstar's intelligence Friday night ... especially since he knows James to be really smart, business savvy and philanthropic.

So, what's Barnes gonna do about it? He's putting his money where his mouth is.

Matt tells TMZ Sports he's now trying to set up a political run for himself in Sacramento -- explaining he wants to run for mayor at some point in the future.

Barnes says he wants to use his fame and influence to improve his community and prove athletes shouldn't just "shut up and dribble."

Mickey Rourke tells TMZ Sports ... Donald Trump is a "garbage can" president -- and he'd gladly protest with the NFL kneelers as a way to stick it to our "sh**ty" Commander in Chief.

"The Expendables" star was at Ago on Saturday night when we asked him about the LeBron James vs. Donald Trump beef ... and where he stood.

That's when Rourke unloaded on POTUS -- and made it clear he's pissed at the way Trump has treated NFL stars like Colin Kaepernick, who took a knee during the national anthem to shine a spotlight on police brutality against minorities.

"Everything is bulls**t. You can't trust nothing," Rourke said ... explaining that Trump's simply a "sh**ty president" and the country is gonna have to wait him out.

Jamie Luner is off the hook in that massive -- $250 million -- sexual assault lawsuit she was facing ... TMZ has learned.

The judge dismissed the lawsuit Anthony Oliver filed earlier this year. TMZ broke the story ... Oliver claimed the "Melrose Place" star had plied him with alcohol and drugs at a party in 1998 -- when he was just 16 -- and then had sex with him.

The judge tossed it based on statute of limitations ... pointing out Oliver had waited 20 years to file the suit. It needed to be filed within 8 years after turning 18, or within 3 years of discovering a repressed memory.

Jamie's reps told us the whole allegation was unfounded, and believed it was part of a "targeted extortion scheme." The rep also said Oliver had a sordid history with the courts ... filing 27 federal lawsuits.

Reggie Bush isn't throwing in the towel on Johnny Manziel just yet ... despite his atrocious 4-interception debut in the CFL.

"He's still got time," Reggie tells TMZ Sports ... "He'll be alright."

Of course, Manziel's first start in the CFL on Friday really couldn't have gone worse -- 4 picks before halftime as his Montreal Alouettes got beat up by the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in a 50-11 rout.

Manziel only had 4 practices with Montreal before taking over the starting role -- and he was hurt by some key drops by his WRs. Johnny did flash moments of real athleticism though, so don't abandon all hope.

"I'm a Johnny Manziel fan so I hope he figures it out," Bush tells TMZ Sports.

Johnny's next game is Saturday against Ottawa -- we'll see if Manziel can right the ship.

Big Freedia says Drake made up for the fact she wasn't in his "Nice For What" video by featuring her in his latest short film ... even if she did have to get the ball rolling.

The NOLA bounce music pioneer tells TMZ she reached out to Drizzy while he was in town filming the 8-minute long video for his smash hit "In My Feelings," and says he invited her on set for what she took as an unspoken peace offering for "snubbing" her from 'NFW.'

In case you hadn't heard, Freedia's vocals were used in Drake's earlier hit song this year ... but fans were pissed she didn't make a physical appearance in visual form.

That's all water under a bridge now though, according to Freedia. She says Drake including her -- regardless of who hit who up first -- is a big step forward for the LGBTQ community.

Donald Trump might claim he's doing wonders for the U.S. economy, but that's total BS when it comes to a couple businesses close to the Prez ... ident's Walk of Fame star.

Employees from Forever 21 and American Eagle in Hollywood tell TMZ ... business has not been booming lately, and they're placing the blame squarely on the Trump star on the sidewalk in front of their entrances.

Forever 21 folks say issues with the star -- including its destruction by another guy with a pickax and brawls breaking out -- have scared tourists off. We're told the stores have experienced a significant drop in revenue.

American Eagle workers say July is usually their busiest month, but that wasn't the case this summer. The store constantly contacts cops about crowds in front ... there for the star and not shopping.

An AE employee says Trump's star literally hijacks attention from the store, and business has actually suffered since Trump was sworn in.

10:15 AM PT -- Michael Jordan just weighed in on Trump's tweet, as well, telling NBC News ... "I support LJ. He’s doing an amazing job for his community.”

It's the least surprising thing this week ... that sports stars and other celebs are appalled by the President of the United States calling LeBron James dumb in a late Friday night tweet. If this were a limbo contest, Donald Trump would blow everyone away, because no one could go lower.

Here's a sampling.

NBA All-Star Karl Anthony-Towns

WNBA Star Elena Delle Donne

NBA Rookie Sensation Donovan Mitchell

Ohio Gov. John Kasich

YG, whose song "Big Bank" triggered a fierce war that goes to the heart of civil rights and racial prejudice in America, says the Madden CEO called him to express regret over editing out Colin Kaepernick from the song ... but it may be too little, too late.

YG was leaving Craig's in WeHo Friday night, before his album release party, and he said Andrew Wilson, the CEO of Electronic Arts, which got on the horn to say Colin's name would be back in the Madden game come Monday.

As you know, YG's version included Colin but it not-so-mysteriously disappeared when the game was unveiled, triggering outrage. It can only be viewed as kneeling to NFL fans who embrace Donald Trump's version of America.

Al Sharpton is very skeptical of EA's statement on why it removed Colin Kaepernick's name from the Madden 19 soundtrack ... telling TMZ Sports, "I'm questioning their intentions."

The creators of football's top-selling game issued an apology after it was discovered they scrubbed the Kaep reference from YG's song "Big Bank" ... and blamed the whole ordeal on a licensing issue.

Sharpton ain't ready to buy any of that ... explaining to us their actions sound more like evidence of NFL collusion than an honest mistake.

"It clearly looks like it is an agreement among the owners," Al says.

"They keep [Kaepernick] isolated -- they keep him off the field. And I think that is something that is un-American."

Ne-Yo believes there's an opportunity for a hip-hop artist to be a champion for the LGBT community ... and the job's open for the taking.

The singer and "World of Dance" judge was leaving LAX Friday when we brought up the controversy over a transgender model being edited out of Travis Scott's new album cover. Ne-Yo doesn't slam the rapper -- especially since Travis' team says it wasn't his fault -- but he makes it clear LGBT models deserve more respect and equal treatment in hip-hop.

And, if someone were to spearhead a movement on behalf of those models ... Ne-Yo says they'd go down in history.

Seth Rogen says he immediately stepped in when he found out a child actor was put in blackface on the set of the comedy, "Good Boys," which he's producing.

TMZ broke the story ... a stand-in for 11-year-old actor Keith L. Williams was wearing brown makeup to darken his skin, and an afro wig during filming last week in Vancouver. Seth says he's "terribly sorry" it happened.

He says, "As soon as I was made aware of it, I ensured we put an end to it -- and I give my word that on any project my team and I are involved in, we will take every precaution to make sure something similar does not take place again."

As we reported, production sources claimed the makeup was used on the stand-in to match Keith's complexion ... strictly for lighting purposes.

The woman who was arrested for scaling the Statue of Liberty on Independence Day to protest President Trump's immigration policy is at it again, and this time her target's Melania.

Patricia Okoumou showed up for her court hearing Friday in Manhattan wearing a green dress with the words, "I REALLY CARE WHY WON'T U?" and "BE BEST" written on her backside.

The first message is a shot at the First Lady for the tone-deaf jacket she wore in June that read, "I REALLY DON'T CARE, DO U?" on her way to visit child detention centers in Texas.

Okoumou's "Be Best" refers to Melania's initiative of the same name to promote online safety for kids ... which has been ripped for allegedly plagiarizing from the Obama administration.

Travis Scott had nothing to do with editing a famous transgender model off his latest album cover, because the artwork he received is exactly what he released ... so say sources close to the rapper.

We're told the final version of Travis' "Astroworld" album cover was exactly what he got from artist David LaChapelle ... and it did not include the shot of trans model Amanda Lepore in the area to the left of Scott's mouth.

Translation: the accusations of transphobia against Travis are inaccurate, because he didn't even know about the version that included Lepore.

As we reported ... Amanda wasn't mad about not making the final cut of the album artwork, and joked she was simply too good looking for it and upstaged everyone else.

What's interesting -- LaChapelle echoed what Lepore said and insisted her omission had "nothing to do with hating" ... but failed to explain why the edit happened. Now that Scott's denying he had anything to do with it ... LaChapelle might have some more explaining to do.

We reached out to him multiple times ... so far, no word back.

Colin Kaepernick's name will be added back to the soundtrack on Madden 19 ... according to a statement by the video game's developers.

According to EA, it was all an unfortunate misunderstanding. The company's taking the blame for Colin's name being scrubbed from YG's song "Big Bank" on the game.

EA says ... "We made an unfortunate mistake with our Madden NFL soundtrack. Members of our team misunderstood the fact that while we don’t have rights to include Colin Kaepernick in the game, this doesn’t affect soundtracks."

The company adds the edit never should have happened, and apologized to Kaep, the NFL, players and fans ... along with YG and Big Sean.