Controversial S#!T

Fall back, Neil Young ... Joe Rogan's plenty capable of ripping himself, and is openly questioning why anyone would take medical advice from the freakin' host of "Fear Factor."

Rogan was onstage Tuesday night in Austin doing stand-up, and dug into his recent podcast controversies ... saying he was disgusted seeing the compilation video of his repeated, uncensored use of the n-word.

Rogan told the crowd -- whose phones were locked to block all recordings -- "That was racist as f**k. Even to me! I’m me and I’m watching it saying, ‘Stop saying it!’ I put my cursor over the video and I’m like, ‘Four more minutes?!'”

He was even more self-deprecating when it came to the COVID-19/anti-vaxx criticisms ... saying he's completely unqualified to offer medical advice.

He's made the point before, but this was more biting -- “If you’re taking vaccine advice from me, is that really my fault? What dumb s**t were you about to do when my stupid idea sounded better? ‘You know that dude who made people eat animal dicks on TV? How does he feel about medicine?’ If you want my advice, don’t take my advice.”

Fresh off his apology for repeatedly using the n-word, Joe Rogan says he's a victim ... because that compilation video was only put together as a "political hit job," and yet, he's found a silver lining.

The latest episode of the "Joe Rogan Experience" dropped Tuesday, and opened with Joe expressing "relief" a few days after posting his lengthy mea culpa. Joe admits the video showing him saying the full, uncensored epithet on his podcast was "good, because it makes me address some s**t I wish wasn't out there."

While comedian Akaash Singh gave JR props for admitting his mistake, Rogan clearly questions the motives of the people who resurfaced the old clips.

What's interesting is ... Joe isn't shying away from racial controversies. He dove right in again, openly questioning fellow comedian Awkwafina for finally addressing criticism she's faced for using a so-called "blaccent."

Rashad Evans has known Joe Rogan for many years ... and the UFC legend tells TMZ Sports flat out, the JRE host is NOT racist.

"I know Joe and I know the kind of person Joe is," Evans told us ... "Joe never gave me any kind of feeling or any kind of indication that he's racist."

Of course, Rogan's in hot water as pressure mounts for him to be pulled off Spotify in the wake of an old video that resurfaced showing Joe repeatedly using the n-word.

Joe apologized, saying "It looks f***ing horrible, even to me." However, Rogan also explained the video was edited together without context using 12 years of podcast footage.

Rashad says he is not condoning Rogan's use of the n-word, but says the video isn't indicative of who JR is as a person.

"Not to excuse any of it, but at the same time, when you go back that far I'm sure there could be a compilation of unfavorable things that a lot of people have said that can come back and bite them," Evans says.

FYI, Evans and Rogan go back many years (Rashad was signed by the UFC in 2005). RE was a guest on the JRE pod in February 2020.

In addition to Spotify calling for Rogan's firing ... some have also said the UFC should can the commentator. We asked Rashad ... should the UFC ax Joe?

"I think [the UFC] should stand by Joe Rogan. I don't think those allegations and the compilation, I don't think that speaks to who Joe Rogan is now."

Rashad points out, depending on political affiliation, some people are given a pass in situations ... like President Joe Biden.

"Our president is one they gave a pass to," Evans says.

"There are many things I've heard him say that sounded racist. I've heard him use the n-word in context like how Joe used it. That's completely overlooked, and he was considered to be the savior of people of color."

Switching gears ... we also asked 44-year-old Rashad, who recently beat Gabriel Checco by unanimous decision in Khabib's Eagle FC MMA promotion, about his fighting future.

There's a good chance you haven't seen the last of Suga.

Micah Beals -- aka, Micah Femia -- was filmed this week harassing a couple guys on a NYC subway train over their mask-wearing ... and things got ugly quick.

Check out the clip ... you see a man we're told is Beals, who has appeared on "Parks and Recreation" and other shows, sitting by himself on a bench before turning his attention to another man down the way -- taunting and insulting the guy over his face covering.

The man seems to do a good job at ignoring Beals, but the dude persists in his barbs -- calling him a sheep, a "p***y" and then finally, a homophobic slur. Beals also appears to be drinking a beer, and once he realizes he's being filmed by a second person across from him ... he zeroes in there too.

The end of the video appears to show Beals ramping up to kick the man recording, but cuts out before we can see what happened.

We've got a call in to cops to see if Beals was reported. No word back yet.

Speaking of NYPD, Beals is the same guy police ID'd for allegedly splashing paint onto a bronze bust of George Floyd in Union Square a few months back ... and he ended up getting charged with criminal mischief. That incident, too, was caught on camera.

Brian Flores would have the Texans job if it weren't for his lawsuit against the NFL ... so says the coach's lawyers, who claim his legal battle is the main reason Lovie Smith got hired.

Houston announced the 63-year-old defensive coordinator would be taking over as head coach of the Texans on Monday ... and Flores, per his team, is happy with the hire -- but feels he should have been the guy.

"Mr. Flores is happy to hear that the Texans have hired a Black head coach, Lovie Smith, as Mr. Flores' goal in bringing his case is to provide real opportunities for Black and minority candidates to be considered for coaching and executive positions within the NFL," Douglas H. Wigdor and John Elefterakis said in a statement.

"However, we would be remiss not to mention that Mr. Flores was one of three finalists for the Texans' head coach position and, after a great interview and mutual interest, it is obvious that the only reason Mr. Flores was not selected was his decision to stand up against racial inequality across the NFL."

As we previously reported, Flores is currently suing the league over its alleged racist hiring process ... in hopes of bringing change to the NFL.

Al Sharpton says Joe Rogan needs to do more to prove he’s learned from this controversy over his use of the n-word — but what "more" looks like, exactly, is still a bit hazy.

We got the reverend Monday in NYC and asked if he was buying JR’s apology, and while Sharpton says the guy seems sincere, he’d like to see some actions behind the words to show true penance.

As he points out, Joe didn’t just drop the n-word a couple times ... he said it several times, and not just that -- the apology came after he was exposed by the resurfacing of old clips, instead of an upfront confession.

With that in mind -- and with a shout-out to India.Arie for bringing this to light in the first place -- Rev. Sharpton suggests Joe do something to right the ship. Interestingly, he says a meeting with community leaders, as is often done, probably won’t cut it.

He kinda leaves it in Joe’s court on how to proceed.

Mark Lye -- a former PGA Tour pro -- was fired from his golf radio host job this weekend ... after he said on-air that watching the WNBA made him want to shoot himself.

Lye made the disparaging comments on SiriusXM's "The Scorecard" show on Saturday ... while trying to explain why he's now a fan of women's golf.

"You know, the LPGA Tour to me is a completely different tour than it was 10 years ago," Lye said. "You couldn't pay me to watch. You really couldn't. Because I just, I couldn't relate at all."

He continued, "It’s kind of like, you know, if you're a basketball player -- and I'm not trashing anybody -- please, don't take it the wrong way -- but I saw some highlights of ladies basketball. Man, is there a gun in the house? I'll shoot myself than watch that."

Lye told GOLF.com the comments almost immediately got him fired ... saying SiriusXM officials canned him a short time afterward.

"I was terminated about comments made about the WNBA," said Lye, who added that he did apologize for the words in the ensuing segment.

SiriusXM confirmed the firing to GOLF.com, saying the 69-year-old "will no longer be hosting."

Lye put out a statement on Twitter on Sunday following the firing ... appearing to defend the comments.

"The fact that I can’t relate to WNBA does not make me sexist in any way," he wrote. "All you haters should listen to the whole segment, where I completely glorified womens golf, which I love to cover. Thanks for listening."

T-Pain is posing an interesting question about Joe Rogan -- what exactly are people angry about ... perceived harmful content in general, or is the outrage strictly personal?

The singer dished his thoughts about the ever-evolving Rogan saga this weekend in L.A. -- while celebrating the release of his new track, "That's Just Tips," at Nightingale. He says ... yeah, Rogan's use of the n-word is ugly and perhaps even worthy of "cancelation."

In the same breath, TP also acknowledges what Spotify has confirmed -- namely, that JR isn't going anywhere ... and in T's mind, the reason for that is cold, hard cash.

Fact is, Rogan was an expensive buy for the streaming giant -- $100 million, to be exact -- and it's precisely because of that, from T-Pain's POV, that they won't get rid of him. As he puts it, they have to get every cent they spent out of Joe.

With all that said, T-Pain also wonders if the same energy people have for Joe Rogan at the moment is merely selective -- because he says, if folks are truly perturbed by what they consider dangerous rhetoric, why not nix a lot of raps songs too???

Peng Shuai gave her first non-Chinese run interview about her apparent disappearance last year, insisting all is well ... but it sure sounds like she had a gun held to her head.

The ex-tennis star and women’s doubles champ did an interview this weekend with French outlet L’Equipe in Beijing -- where the 2022 Winter Olympics are currently being held -- and during the sit-down, she once again denied ever accusing any Chinese government official of sexual assault, while also downplaying speculation that she’d vanished shortly thereafter ... even though both definitely seem to have happened on the face of things.

When asked about the initial allegation she’d posted on the Chinese social media app Weibo, Peng is quoted as saying it was “an enormous misunderstanding,” while also flat-out rejecting she’d ever even made such a claim -- despite clear evidence she, in fact, had ... via screenshots of her quickly-deleted statement at the time.

Shuai says, “Sexual assault? I never said that anyone made me submit to a sexual assault.” But when pressed about the world having seen the OG post and asked why she’d deleted it, PS answered ... “Why? Because I wanted to.”

You'd think they'd ask why she posted it in the first place, but apparently ... no such follow-up question was allowed, and they moved on to other topics.

We should mention ... although this interview was done with a publication that wasn’t state-run by the Chinese government, they still very much had a hand in how this was playing out -- as Shuai is said to have been accompanied by a Chinese Olympic official during the chat and the questions were submitted ahead of time, on the condition they print her remarks verbatim ... according to L’Equipe.

Shuai thanked everyone who expressed concern for her when she appeared to have vanished from public view after posting that claim -- but then said this ... “I never disappeared. It’s simply that many people, like my friends and among them, those from the IOC, sent me messages and it was completely impossible to respond to so many messages.”

In addition to all this, the IOC also announced that its Prez, Thomas Bach, had had dinner with Shuai in Beijing ... noting she appeared okay. The IOC, however, refused to weigh in on whether they felt she was under duress or not ... insisting it wasn’t their place to do so.

Spotify has called out Joe Rogan for "incredibly hurtful" comments, but they are holding firm ... he still has a place on its platform.

Spotify CEO Daniel Ek wrote a memo to staff, saying, "There are no words I can say to adequately convey how deeply sorry I am for the way The Joe Rogan Experience controversy continues to impact each of you."

Ek then zeros in on Joe, saying, "Not only are some of Joe Rogan's comments incredibly hurtful -- I want you to make it clear that they do not represent the values of this company. I know this situation leaves many of you feeling drained, frustrated and unheard."

It seems the comments are directed at Rogan using the n-word -- the full word -- on his podcast, although the COVID controversy may well be part of it.

And then, Ek pivots, explaining, "While I strongly condemn what Joe has said and I agree with his decision to remove past episodes from our platform, I realize some will want more."

Now the support ... "And I want to make one point very clear -- I do not believe that silencing Joe is the answer. We should have clear lines around content and take action when they are crossed, but canceling voices is a slippery slope."

Ek says his company will invest $100 million "for the licensing, development, and marketing of music and audio content from historically marginalized groups."

Joe Rogan getting called out for repeatedly using the n-word in the past is getting an expected whataboutism treatment -- with comparisons being made to Howard Stern.

Here's the deal ... in the wake of Rogan apologizing for his previous usage of the slur, fans of his are now up in arms over the fact that other famous people in Hollywood have also hurled it with impunity, including Stern ... who infamously did so on his old show.

Stern has also donned blackface in some of these instances -- but one that's making the rounds now is a sketch he did in 1993, where he was mocking the Ted Danson-Whoopi Goldberg incident.

With Stern playing the part of Ted -- and Sherman Hemsley portraying Whoopi -- the former drops the n-word A LOT as he lampoons the real-life event ... and right to the face of two Black people, no less. Indeed, it's pretty damn offensive ... even in the context of a skit.

Now, despite HS addressing this exact moment just a couple years ago -- when he said he regretted the Danson blackface gag, adding he'd grown as a person -- many Rogan defenders are resurfacing this clip again and asking ... well, what about Howard Stern?!?

Of course, they're totally missing the point ... namely, that Stern WAS, in fact, called out and just like JR has now done -- he, too, went on the air to apologize for it ... as there WAS outrage at the time, just like there is right now after people discovered Joe's past use.

There also seems to be a misnomer over the term "canceled" as it pertains to these two -- some seem to think that because Joe is the most recent one to be under the microscope ... he's getting silenced or de-platformed, and that Stern should suffer the same treatment.

The reality, though, is he most certainly isn't being censored. Spotify's made clear they're standing by their man (even though they have erased a ton of those controversial episodes with the n-word) ... and Joe doesn't realistically face cancelation, as it were.

Billie Eilish brought her concert to a full-stop halt over one fan who appeared to be in distress -- and if you're thinking about Astroworld Fest here ... well, so was she.

The singer was performing in Atlanta Saturday, where State Farm Arena seemed to be packed to the gills with fans -- especially down below near where she was performing ... and where one gal apparently started getting crushed in the pit.

Check out this video we got of the moment BE paused everything once she became aware of what was going on ... it seems the lady in question was having trouble breathing, and needed an inhaler.

Luckily, Billie actually had one on hand ... and instructed the stage crew to get it to her ASAP. While the fan was being attended to, Billie settled down the crowd, told them to take a deep breath and step back -- at the same time, noting she wants to take care of her own ... something she's made sure to do in past concerts of hers as well, dating back years.

Then came a shot at what was clearly aimed at Travis Scott, with Billie saying ... "I wait for people to be okay before I keep going." That got huge cheers from the audience.

Of course, she's referencing the fact that Travis' November set continued for several minutes after the event was declared a mass casualty event -- with many suspecting TS was aware of what was going on. He's strongly denied that, claiming ignorance to the severity of things.

What's interesting here is the fact that Billie is replacing Travis at Coachella this year. Although an official announcement has yet to be made, the cat's outta the bag -- he got bumped amid the controversy -- other headliners dropped out too, FWIW -- and BE's one of the new artists who've been tapped in their stead.

Cornel West stands with Brian Flores ... telling TMZ Sports he agrees with the former Dolphins head coach that the NFL has a systemic racism problem.

We spoke with the philosopher just a few days after Flores filed his bombshell lawsuit -- one in which he alleged teams are racist when it comes to making hires across the league -- and the former Harvard and Princeton professor told us he couldn't agree more with the allegations.

"The NFL ought to be ashamed of itself," West said. "It's been functioning like a plantation."

West tells us, though, that he believes Flores' suit could be the start of a big change in the league.

"Now," he said, "the chicken's coming home to roost."

West tells us he admires Flores -- lauding the coach for having vision, integrity, courage and humility -- and he says if the NFL focused more on those traits in Black coaches, they wouldn't need the Rooney Rule in the first place.

"Well, the problem is that if they were concerned about quality they wouldn't have to worry about a rule," West said.

"Any time you talk about Black folks -- you're talking about low quality. They got to quit lying about black people."

Awkwafina has been accused of trying to pose as a Black person in the past -- be it in song or on camera -- and now ... she's sorta owning up to it, but stopping short of an apology.

The actress/rapper/internet personality addressed a long-running criticism that's been years in the making -- acknowledging she's aware that folks have dogged her for using African-American Vernacular English ... but at the same time, denying any mal-intent.

Awkwafina took to Twitter Saturday -- her first post in nearly three years -- with a lengthy statement that touched on the fact that Black culture, including AAVE, is often hijacked and monetized by others ... and then passed off as general pop culture and/or modern slang.

She then says this ... "But as a non-Black POC, I stand by the fact that I will always listen and work tirelessly to understand the history and context of AAVE, what is deemed appropriate or backwards toward the progress of ANY and EVERY marginalized group."

Awkwafina adds, "But I must emphasize: To mock, belittle, or to be unkind in any way possible at the expense of other is: Simply. Not. My. Nature. It never has, and it never was."

She goes on to address her upbringing and how she's carved out her own American identity, and essentially says ... there's some learning she's gotta do in reflecting that publicly and in her day-to-day life ... as do Asian Americans at large, she contends.

Some gave Awkwafina props, while others didn't let her off the hook -- noting she never said sorry. In response, it seems she's putting the bird app up on the shelf for a while ... saying she's retiring from Twitter over what sounds like demands she kill herself. Yikes ...

If you're wondering where the AAVE evidence is, go watch her in "Ocean's Eight" and "Crazy Rich Asians," not to mention her earlier work on "Tawk with Awkwafina," among other works. Basically, many say she talks with a "Blaccent" when hamming it up for the cameras ... and as a result, comes off as a caricature -- and, by extension, disrespectful in some folks' eyes.

Eddie Vedder says he hated Motley Crue in the '80s, and now one of the big-hair band's very own is firing off his thoughts on the matter ... calling Pearl Jam a snore-fest.

Bassist Nikki Sixx tweeted out some zingers Saturday, writing ... "Made me laugh today reading how much the singer in Pearl Jam hated @MotleyCrue. Now considering that they're one of the most boring bands in history it's kind of a compliment isn't it?"

He wasn't done mouthing off just yet though ... in response to one fan saying she'd recommend PJ songs for a friend's newborn baby to get it to go to sleep, NS replied -- "Or just sing to the baby with marbles In your mouth…Very zen."

And, yet to another fan who called him a lame who had 3 mid-level songs at best, Nikki wrote ... "Remember there were zillions of brown haired bands for brown haired fans…..Go find them. You will know them by the bored look on their face."

Now, if you're wondering where the heck all this generational animosity stems from ... it's actually Vedder who technically launched the first arrow across the bow -- taking aim at MC, specifically, in a recent NYT article ... in which he called the 4 fellas and their whole vibe, well, thin on substance.

While answering a question about whether any ripples from the Gen X/alt-culture explosion of the '70s and '80s extended to the present, EV didn't hold back while describing an old gear-loading gig of his.

He said, "I'd end up being at shows that I wouldn't have chosen to go to -- bands that monopolized late-'80s MTV. The metal bands that -- I'm trying to be nice -- I despised. "Girls, Girls, Girls" and Mötley Crüe: f*** you. I hated it. I hated how it made the fellas look. I hated how it made the women look. It felt so vacuous."

Vedder went on to say that thank God Guns N Roses came around to put some teeth back into the genre. And finally, he took a shot at Heather Locklear -- Tommy Lee's ex-wife.

He suggests Locklear was emblematic of how rock and roll portrayed and/or saw women in those days, explaining, "But I'm circling back to say that one thing that I appreciated was that in Seattle and the alternative crowd, the girls could wear their combat boots and sweaters, and their hair looked like Cat Power's and not Heather Locklear's -- nothing against her."

Kanye West has expressed, very publicly, his discontent over his and Kim Kardashian's daughter, North, being on TikTok -- but we're told ... the 8-year-old can't even log on without mom's permission.

Sources close to the former couple tell TMZ ... North doesn't have her own TikTok account, nor does she have the app on her own phone any longer. Instead, we're told North can only access TikTok through a joint account on Kim's phone -- and only uses it in her mother's presence.

Not just that ... but our sources say the comments for North and Kim's account are fully disabled. We've even spoken to sources at TikTok who tell us ... North and Kim's account passes the company's terms and conditions for minors.

Now here's why Ye might be in a tiff over this ... according to another source in the know. We know there was, in fact, an incident recently where North did go live on TikTok from her own phone -- but our sources say Kim disciplined her over that and made the changes then.

We're told Kim, Kanye and his cousins even had a discussion over the incident, and they agreed to the new parameters that North is now confined to ... aka, no social media on her phone, and only being able to hop on through her mom's account with her mom there too.

With that said ... our sources say it's confusing to Kim that Kanye is making a big fuss about North's recent video, because she thought everyone was on the same page from before.

As for why an 8-year-old would even have her own phone ... sources close to Kim tell us it's so she can have a direct line to her dad, and vice-versa. Of course, we're told that phone is fully monitored with all the parental blocks you can imagine -- and to reiterate ... there are no social media accounts on it at all.