Controversial S#!T

Robin Thicke and Ken Jeong's 'Masked Singer' walkout over Rudy Giuliani being a contestant will not be a long-term protest -- both judges are back on the job, and looking pretty damn happy too.

Ken and Robin joined their fellow judges Nicole Scherzinger and Jenny McCarthy Wahlberg Thursday for a photo shoot to promote the show's upcoming 7th season. The fact they're still all in to hype the show is a great sign they're willing to sweep Giuliani-gate under the rug

As TMZ reported … During the first taping of the season, Donald Trump's former attorney was the first to get kicked off the show, and when he was unmasked to the judges and audience members, Robin and Ken walked right off set -- a clear protest of his participation in the show.

That all went down last week, but Thursday all seemed forgiven during the shoot outside "The Masked Singer" studio.

While there were some complaints when Sarah Palin appeared on the show back in 2020 ... it was nothing as visceral as Ken and Robin storming off the stage.

Kendall Jenner and Hailey Bieber keep parking their luxury cars in handicap spots at their Pilates class ... and despite criticism that it's illegal and wrong, they persist.

There they are again ... in the vast parking lot attached to a bunch of businesses -- including the Pilates studio Hot Pilates -- and their parking spots of choice are feet from their destination. The problem is -- it's reserved for the disabled.

We've seen them do this repeatedly over the last few weeks, but they continue to park there.

Our Kendall sources say the owner of the Pilates studio asked them to park in the handicapped spaces because their presence was causing a scene with photogs. Problem is -- the studio owner doesn't control the space -- it's for all the businesses in the parking lot.

We're also told on most days, their security teams will move the cars after Kendall and Hailey get into class -- and bring them after. If the cars aren't moved, security stands by and can get them out of the way if needed.

Our Hailey sources say there are other celebs who've been instructed to do the same thing when they're at the gym.

Now here's an idea ... filming "The View" at the Museum of Tolerance to show support for the Jewish community and educate viewers about the Holocaust.

Rabbi Abraham Cooper from the famed Simon Wiesenthal Center in L.A. tells TMZ ... he'd love to have the show air live at the Museum of Tolerance. He thinks a special week-long visit to the Museum -- which focuses on the Holocaust -- would be enlightening, and he thinks given what was said on the show, the network has to show some accountability.

Ok, let's back this up for a minute. Rabbi Cooper thinks it's absurd to even suggest Whoopi Goldberg is anti-Semitic. She's been a tried-and-true friend of the Jewish community for decades.

That said, the Rabbi thinks her comment that the Holocaust was not racially-based was way out of bounds, and since she said it on the show ... the show should take steps to educate the audience.

It's an interesting take ... especially since the Prez of ABC News came out and proclaimed her network was a big supporter of the Jewish community.

Rabbi Cooper also has an opinion about Whoopi's 2-week suspension -- an opinion that is at odds with many others in the Jewish community. He thinks the suspension is appropriate, because he thinks accountability is important.

The head of the Anti-Defamation League and many others beg to differ, saying Whoopi apologized, recognized the error in her ways, and that should be the end of it.

Fact is ... lots of people think this is ABC reacting out of fear -- since Sharon Osbourne was suspended for defending Piers Morgan's take on Meghan Markle, ABC felt it had to do the same with Whoopi.

There's another way of looking at it ... that both Whoopi and Sharon shouldn't be suspended for stating their opinions on live, opinion-based TV. If neither said what they said from a place of malice, then why the suspensions? In Whoopi's case, she actually gave a mea culpa, so it's unclear exactly what the ABC President expects her to reflect on.

Cooper says one of his colleagues has a relationship with Whoopi, and they've reached out to her for a meeting. Since Whoopi seems to already get what she did, it's unclear what the point of the meeting would be.

Former Bills GM Doug Whaley is hopeful Brian Flores' lawsuit brings about changes in the NFL ... but he tells TMZ Sports he's sure the only way the league's infrastructure will change quickly is if players boycott.

We spoke with Whaley following the filing of Flores' lawsuit ... and he told us in order to really see change, he believes it's going to take much more than the ex-Miami Dolphins coach's legal documents.

"[Flores' lawsuit] will hopefully move the needle," Whaley said. "But to really make change and affect change is when players stand up and start talking about withholding their services."

Whaley tells us if media companies and sponsors -- the ones that help pay billions of dollars to the NFL -- follow suit ... he then could see the league altering its way of thinking.

"To really affect change with billionaires," Whaley said, "you hit them where they really are concerned. It's not people's feelings. It's their bank accounts."

"When that starts getting affected," he added, "I bet you change will happen a lot sooner."

Doug also tells us he thinks Flores should get another shot at a head coaching gig in the NFL ... though, after the lawsuit's filing, he's now uncertain that will happen.

Law enforcement officials are facing serious backlash ... after failing to inform the public about a 49ers fan who was allegedly assaulted in the SoFi Stadium parking lot during Sunday's NFC Championship game.

According to the L.A. Times, it took 3 days for authorities in Inglewood to acknowledge the incident even took place ... and Thursday, officials were met with skepticism over why they didn't tell the public sooner.

40-year-old restaurant owner Daniel Luna is believed to be the man who was the victim of the heinous assault, according to the report.

Police Lt. Geoffrey Meeks said Los Angeles County Fire Dept. paramedics found Luna wearing a Niners jersey 30 minutes after the game started ... but it's unclear when the attack actually happened.

Of course, the timing is inauspicious for Los Angeles County -- the area is set to host Super Bowl LVI in the coming weeks -- which leads many to believe that authorities weren't as quick to release information surrounding the event out of fear of a PR nightmare.

Law enforcement sources tell TMZ Sports no suspects have been identified in the case ... but police launched an investigation into the matter sometime around 7 PM Sunday night, according to the report.

Officials at SoFi Stadium did, however, say they were "aware and saddened by the incident," and they were working with law enforcement officials throughout the course of their investigation.

"Our thoughts are with Mr. Luna’s friends and family during this difficult time."

The Giants are adamant Brian Flores is flat out wrong -- insisting they did NOT decide to hire Brian Daboll before the ex-Dolphins coach was interviewed -- and claiming Bill Belichick had no idea who NY was hiring.

"After we interviewed six exceptional and diverse candidates, the decision on who we would hire as head coach was made on the evening of January 28, one day after Mr. Flores spent an entire day in our offices going through his second interview for the position, meeting with ownership and other staff members, and receiving a tour of our facility," the team said in a statement.

The date's important because the crux of the lawsuit is ... did Flores have a legit shot at landing the G-Men job, or was he given a sham interview to satisfy the NFL's Rooney Rule (it says teams must interview a minority candidate in person prior to making a hire.)

The 40-year-old former Dolphins head coach filed a lawsuit on Tuesday, alleging the league's hiring practices were racist.

And, Flores says he has proof ... a text from Belichick.

We broke the story ... BB sent a message to Flores on January 23, telling his former assistant coach the NYG liked him for the job.

Unfortunately for BF, Bill either texted the wrong person (he meant to send to Daboll, the man who was ultimately hired), or he misunderstood the info he was told.

"The allegation that the Giants' decision had been made prior to Friday evening, January 28, is false. And to base that allegation on a text exchange with Bill Belichick in which he ultimately states that he 'thinks' Brian Daboll would get the job is irresponsible."

The team continued ... "The text exchange occurred the day before Coach Daboll's in-person interview even took place. Giants’ ownership would never hire a head coach based only on a 20-minute zoom interview, which is all that Mr. Daboll had at that point."

Not to mention, the Giants say Belichick has no affiliation with the organization, and played no part in the hiring process.

"Mr. Belichick does not speak for and has no affiliation with the Giants. Mr. Belichick’s text exchange provides no insight into what actually transpired during our head coaching search."

In other words, it doesn't matter what Bill texted, according to the team.

Bottom line -- the Giants are adamant they did absolutely nothing wrong.

Like Stephen Ross, John Elway is now firing back at Brian Flores ... saying he was NOT hungover during their 2019 interview and was simply just tired from flying to speak with the coach.

Flores, in a lawsuit filed Tuesday, accused Elway and the Broncos of conducting a "sham interview" with him 3 years ago ... saying Elway and others at the meeting "looked completely disheveled" and were "obviously" "drinking heavily the night before."

Elway, though, refuted those claims in a lengthy statement on Thursday ... calling the allegations "false and defamatory."

"For Brian to make an assumption about my appearance and state of mind early that morning was subjective, hurtful and just plain wrong," the Denver exec said. "If I appeared 'disheveled,' as he claimed, it was because we had flown in during the middle of the night -- immediately following another interview in Denver -- and were going on a few hours of sleep to meet the only window provided to us."

Elway continued, "I interviewed Brian in good faith, giving him the same consideration and opportunity as every other candidate for our head coaching position in 2019."

Elway added that he and his team were "prepared, ready and fully engaged" during the interview, which he said lasted 3 and a half hours.

"It's unfortunate and shocking to learn for the first time this week that Brian felt differently about our interview with him," Elway said.

Elway's strong denial came just hours after Ross, the Miami Dolphins' owner, issued his. As we reported, Ross called the Flores claims that he offered money to the coach to tank "false, malicious, and defamatory."

The Super Bowl is just 10 days away and health officials in Los Angeles are warning all you sneaky fans plotting a way around the mask mandate ... don't even think about it!!

L.A. County -- where the game will take place on February 13 -- requires everyone over 2 years old at large scale events over 5,000 people, regardless of vaccination status, to mask up ... except when chowing down.

"That doesn't mean buy a bucket of popcorn and eat it for two hours. Actively eating and drinking," a SoFi Stadium executive said according to Fox 5 in San Diego, adding, "We are on to you."

Officials say they're ready to crack down on any of the 70,000+ fans who will ascend on the $5.5 billion stadium next Sunday ... but admitted it's a monumental task.

"It's a challenge. It's a very large building but we are prepared and ready to go," the NFL's head of live events said, continuing ... "We have had two years of experience of planning under COVID and we're extremely confident in the plans that we have in place."

Now, let's be honest ... this is a rule that is virtually impossible to enforce. How do you determine who's eating slow? What's even considered slow? And, how do you deal with the sheer number of people?

In fact, just last weekend during the NFC Championship Game against the 49ers at SoFi Stadium, California governor Gavin Newsom landed in hot water when he was caught taking a photo with Magic Johnson -- without a mask.

Los Angeles mayor Eric Garcetti also took a maskless photo with the Lakers legend ... but don't worry, he said he was holding his breath (he said this with a straight face).

In addition to requiring the masks, event staff will also require fans to show vaccination proof prior to entering the stadium. The stadium has also been outfitted with hundreds of hand sanitizers.

A Colin Kaepernick hater heckled the former NFL star on his way out of Madison Square Garden on Wednesday -- calling the ex-QB a "bum" and saying, "You could never throw a football."

The jerk was heard loud and clear as Kaepernick left the Knicks game in New York and got into his ride ... with the man yelling twice, "You're a bum."

"Get in that car," the heckler added.

Kaepernick never acknowledged the man ... and quietly walked through a swarm of people on his way out of the NBA game and into the waiting car.

Inside of the arena, Colin clearly had a much better time -- he sat next to Spike Lee, and was also spotted chatting it up with former MLB star CC Sabathia before tip-off.

During the game, ESPN Films announced a new docuseries was in the works about Kaepernick, with the production company saying Lee had been tapped to direct it. Officials promised it would tell Kaepernick's story in a way that's never been heard before.

Dolphins owner Stephen Ross is breaking his silence on the Brian Flores allegations ... calling his ex-head coach's claims "false, malicious, and defamatory."

In Flores' bombshell lawsuit, which was filed on Tuesday, the 40-year-old alleged that Ross had offered him cash to tank in his first season as coach of the team in 2019 -- saying Ross was willing to give $100,000 per loss.

The owner, though, strongly denied the claims in a statement Wednesday night ... calling them a bunch of BS.

"With regards to the allegations being made by Brian Flores, I am a man of honor and integrity and cannot let them stand without responding," Ross said.

"I take great personal exception to these malicious attacks, and the truth must be known. His allegations are false, malicious and defamatory."

Ross added that he will cooperate with investigators -- but noted he doesn't anticipate them finding any validity to Flores' accusations.

"I welcome that investigation," Ross said, "and I am eager to defend my personal integrity, and the integrity and values of the entire Miami Dolphins organization, from these baseless, unfair and disparaging claims."

Ross fired Flores following the 2021 season ... and said at the time the decision was made due to the coach's "collaboration" issues with others in the Dolphins' org.

A new Colin Kaepernick docuseries is promising to tell the former NFL star's story through his own words ... and Spike Lee has been tapped to direct it all.

ESPN Films announced the partnership and the plan on Wednesday night ... saying in a statement that production on the project has already begun.

No word yet on a title or how many hours/episodes it'll all end up being ... but ESPN officials promised the Lee-directed piece will tell a side of the Kaepernick story that has yet to be heard.

"Kaepernick, who has never given a full, first-person account of his journey, is collaborating closely with Lee who plans to use extensive new interviews and a vast never-before-seen archive to help Kaepernick tell his story from his perspective," ESPN said in a statement.

The two were spotted taking in a Knicks game at Madison Square Garden right around the time ESPN dropped the statement.

The director and the football player were seen chatting it up courtside -- and then they left the venue together as well.

The new docuseries, meanwhile, will be far from the first television project Kaepernick has been involved with ... you'll recall, his Netflix show, "Colin in Black and White," was released last year and received great reviews.

Anthony Anderson is sticking behind Whoopi Goldberg ... he says we all make mistakes and should be forgiven.

We caught up with the "Black-ish" star at The Dominick Hotel in NYC. Anthony says ... he only read Whoopi's comments, so he doesn't know the full context. But, he says he doesn't believe they came from a bad place.

Anthony added ... we all say things in the heat of the moment that we aren't fully informed about. He doubled down and said that as long a person can admit to being wrong and apologize, then he thinks that's fine ... something he says WG has done.

Anthony says these kinda things happen to us all ... for the most part, we come from a place of love and understanding.

As you know, Whoopi's been in the hot seat since she said that the Holocaust wasn't about race ... She has since apologized but ABC still decided to suspend her from "The View" for 2 weeks.

Wrestler Brian Kendrick was just yanked from making his AEW debut on Wednesday ... after the former WWE star's past comments about tragedies like 9/11, the Sandy Hook shooting and the Holocaust resurfaced.

42-year-old Kendrick was slated to face off against Jon Moxley at Dynamite just minutes from now ... but AEW president Tony Khan says that's no longer happening.

"We’ve been made aware of abhorrent & offensive comments made in the past by Brian Kendrick," Khan said in a statement.

"There’s no room in AEW for the views expressed by Brian. We think it’s best for all that Brian be pulled from tonight’s card as we gather more info."

It's unclear when exactly Kendrick made the comments, but some are at least 10 years old.

There are several videos currently published on the Internet of Kendrick spewing numerous offensive and hurtful conspiracy theories -- ranging from believing in the Illuminati-type group was behind the September 11 attack, the Sandy Hook shooting was "bulls***" meant to start a civil war, and the Holocaust was "overblown."

It doesn't stop there -- Kendrick also seems to believe Michael Jackson staged his own death.

Kendrick did several stints in WWE over the years ... and was just recently granted his release on Feb 1. That same day, it was announced Kendrick would make his first appearance with AEW.

Kendrick has yet to address being shelved from Wednesday's event ... but wrestler Wheeler Yuta has already been announced as his replacement.

Whoopi Goldberg’s suspension is unnecessary, because she’s already made good with the community she offended -- so says AOC, anyway.

The New York congresswoman gave us her take on the controversy Wednesday in D.C., saying this was a learning moment ... and suggesting WG had, indeed, learned her lesson.

Check it out ... she says in situations like these, context matters -- and in Whoopi’s case, Rep. Ocasio-Cortez says it’s clear she’s got a good track record with the Jewish people -- who were in the crosshairs of her controversial comments about the Holocaust.

In her mind, that’s pretty evident in the fact the CEO of the Anti-Defamation League, Jonathan Greenblatt, accepted Whoopi’s apology -- especially after he was invited on to explain why her take was misinformed.

Just a refresher ... Whoopi said the Holocaust wasn’t about race because a majority of the Jews who were killed were white. However, as many people have since explained ... the Nazis viewed and treated the Jews as an inferior race -- and carried out the Holocaust with an ethnic focus. So, yes ... the Jews are seen as a race in this context, even if it isn’t something you can check off on a census form in 2022.

Like we said, Whoopi saw the error in her thinking and delivered a mea culpa Tuesday -- yet she was suspended by ABC anyway, a decision that’s drawing a lot of criticism.

Tiki Barber is so adamant that the New York Giants org. isn't full of a bunch of racists ... he actually had to fight back tears while defending them on Wednesday.

The former G-Men star emotionally refuted Brian Flores' claims on his "Tiki & Tierney" show ... saying flat-out he knows his ex-bosses are not bigots.

"I know [Giants ownership] intimately," Barber said. "So when I say I don't believe they're racists, it's because I know they're not."

As we reported, Flores claimed in a lawsuit Tuesday that he had proof that the Giants only conducted an interview with him to satisfy a league rule that required them to look at minority candidates for their open head coaching position.

The former Miami Dolphins head coach claimed texts from Bill Belichick showed the Giants had already hired Brian Daboll, who's white, well before they even sat down with him.

Tiki, though, said he believes none of it had to do with race whatsoever.

"Yeah, maybe they don't have the right head coach -- the Black head coach," Barber said. "They don't have a Black general manager, or a Black coordinator, right? I know they're not a racist organization."

In trying to further his point, Tiki told a story about how the Maras embraced him so much ... they actually let him speak to Wellington Mara in the moments before he died in 2005.

"The Maras -- and I always say this with the Tisches as well -- like, they embraced me like I was family," an emotional Barber said. "You know what I mean?"

For their part, the Giants denied Flores' allegations in a statement following the filing of the lawsuit.

Stephen Ross isn't the only NFL owner being accused of offering head coaches money to tank -- Hue Jackson is now strongly suggesting that his former boss, Jimmy Haslam, incentivized him to lose games with "a good number."

Jackson's claim comes on the heels of Brian Flores alleging that Ross -- the owner of the Dolphins -- offered him $100,000 per loss during his 2019 coaching campaign ... and would even get upset when the team won games.

Jackson -- who won 3 total games while coaching the Browns from 2016-18 -- weighed in on the topic Wednesday ... saying, "Well, Jimmy Haslam, was happy while we kept losing."

A Twitter user responded ... "Jimmy Haslam wasn’t offering 100k per loss or Hue would be on the Forbes list," which prompted Hue to clap back with his serious allegation.

"Trust me it was a good number!"

Unclear exactly how much Jackson is claiming Haslam offered him ... but his allegations spell more troubling news for the NFL, which is already dealing with Flores' bombshell lawsuit.

Hue spent 4 years in the NFL as a head coach -- 3 of those years were spent working for Haslam in Cleveland -- but struggled to find success as a play-caller with the Raiders and the Browns.

This past December, Grambling State University announced Jackson would be the Tigers' new head coach -- his first coaching opportunity since being fired by the Browns.