Controversial S#!T

No, Patrick Mahomes did NOT just ban his fiancée and own brother from attending his games next season ... 'cause TMZ Sports is told a report saying so is a load of crap.

A wild rumor started making rounds on social media Friday ... claiming the Super Bowl champ sat Brittany Matthews and Jackson down after the season and asked them to avoid Chiefs games as a result of all the "distractions" the duo has caused over the years.

Of course, Matthews and Jackson have been polarizing figures -- Britt's passionate cheering and champagne-spraying ... and Mahomes' TikTok dances and water-pouring incidents have drawn a ton of criticism.

But, our sources tell us the convo simply never happened ... and Patrick can't wait to have his loved ones cheering him on in 2022.

Mahomes was forced to defend Brittany from the Twitter trolls recently ... calling haters "weird" for constantly bashing his wife-to-be.

Matthews has turned all the hate she's gotten into a positive ... by selling "Team Brittany" shirts, with part of the proceeds going to charity.

Nicki Minaj's cousin's friend's swollen testicles are making the rounds on social media once again ... this time resulting in Minaj on the losing end of a pretty hilarious Twitter burn.

It all started with a Nicki tweet on Wednesday that read, "Nothing like watching someone speak confidently about something they know nothing about."

The Philadelphia Dept. of Public Health clearly felt a certain way about the post, replying to Nicki with the 👀 emoji and a screenshot of Nicki's tweet from Sept. 2021 which read, "My cousin in Trinidad won't get the vaccine cuz his friend got it & became impotent. His testicles became swollen. His friend was weeks away from getting married, now the girl called off the wedding. So just pray on it & make sure you're comfortable with ur decision, not bullied."

As we reported, Nicki took a TON of heat for the tweet at the time, even Dr. Fauci weighed in on the claim ... saying if it had actually happened, it was a one-off and shouldn't deter people from getting vaccinated.

Nicki still hasn't said whether or not she's gotten the vaccine. She was recently spotted at a Lakers game where guests are required to either have the shot or proof of a negative test.

Lewis Hamilton says there was zero chance he was going to walk away from Formula 1 in protest after getting screwed over at the end of the 2021 season ... saying it was tough to swallow, but he's ready to "attack" again.

The racing superstar addressed all the speculation surrounding his future at the Mercedes car launch on Friday ... saying, "Well, I never ever said that I was going to stop."

"I love doing what I do, and it is such a privilege working with this large group of people when you really feel like you're part of a family and part of a team and you're working towards that common goal."

Hamilton was rumored to be plotting his exit from F1 after the controversial finish at Abu Dhabi Grand Prix in December ... when his hopes at another title were crushed due to the mishandling of a safety car with 5 laps to go.

Red Bull's Max Verstappen was able to catch up and beat Hamilton due to the botched call by race director Michael Masi (who was fired over the issue on Thursday) ... preventing the Mercedes driver from passing Michael Schumacher for most F1 titles.

Hamilton says it took some time to get over the incident with the help of his loved ones.

"There's no feeling quite like it," he added. "I needed to ... it was obviously a difficult time for me and it was a time where I really needed to take a step back, focus on being present. So, I had my family all around me and created great moments."

"It eventually got to a point where I decided I was going to be attacking again coming into another season with Toto [Wolff] and [teammate] George [Russell]."

Side note -- Mercedes' 2022 car is looking 🔥🔥🔥!!!

While there was a ton of speculation surrounding Hamilton's future, Wolff says he was never concerned about having to replace Hamilton in 2022.

Several members of the Arizona State football team were so upset that their quarterback, Jayden Daniels, was hitting the transfer portal ... they raided his locker, and talked smack while they did it.

Daniels -- who was the Sun Devils' QB1 for most of the last three seasons -- made his intention to leave ASU known on Thursday ... and you can see in video, the news clearly pissed off his teammates.

ASU defensive lineman Travez Moore caught their reaction on camera -- showing several players rummaging through Daniels' locker while shading the guy.

"Clear that n***a s*** out!" a player can be heard saying in the clip.

"He out of this bitch," another player said. "N***a suck anyway!"

The video was deleted off Moore's IG a short time after it was posted -- and Daniels has not yet made a public comment about it.

Elon Musk has blasted Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau ... comparing him to Hitler.

Musk was triggered by Trudeau exercising his emergency powers to stop protesting truckers -- powers that include stopping supporters from donating crypto to the truckers -- by posting a meme of Adolf Hitler with the caption, "Don't compare me to Justin Trudeau ... I had a budget."

The comparison drew the ire of lots of folks and orgs, including the American Jewish Committee, which responded, "Musk may believe posting a meme comparing Justin Trudeau to a genocidal dictator who exterminated millions is an appropriate way to criticize policies he disagrees with. It is not. It never is. Musk must apologize and find other ways to voice his displeasure."

Others are saying, "It disrespects the memory of all victims & hurts many people," and "Unfollowed. Not funny."

Don't hold your breath for an apology from Musk.

Rockmond Dunbar is taking Disney and 20th Television to federal court over his ouster from "9-1-1" ... accusing the studios of discriminating against him based on his race and religion.

According to the lawsuit, obtained by TMZ, Rockmond claims he was the only Black male lead actor on the TV show and his dismissal severely damaged his career.

In the docs, Rockmond claims he submitted paperwork seeking both a religious and medical exemption for the COVID-19 vaccine, and says producers assured him they wanted him to remain on the show and his schedule would be adjusted to accommodate him being unvaccinated.

Instead, Rockmond claims he was barred from the set and assured his character's storyline would show him leaving temporarily, keeping open the possibility for him to return down the road.

But Rockmond claims that never happened either ... in his suit, he says Disney and 20th Television fired him in retaliation and refused to pay him the hundreds of thousands of dollars he says he's still owed.

What's more, Rockmond claims the studios not only refused to accommodate his vaccine exemption requests, but also deliberately made it sound like he was an anti-vaxxer ... and he says he essentially became persona non grata in Hollywood.

Rockmond's going after the studios for money, and he wants an injunction barring the studios from discriminating against anyone based on race or religion when it comes to vaccination policies.

We reached out to Disney and 20th Television ... so far, no word back.

Eric Dickerson says one of the first steps the NFL needs to take following Brian Flores' lawsuit is to hire a new, Black commissioner.

The Rams legend did an interview with OSDB on Wednesday ... and told them he truly believes change in leadership could lead to more Black coaches in the league.

"We’re being told basically that we’re good enough to play the game, but that we don’t have the brainpower to coach the game," Dickerson said. "The only way this is going to change is at the top of the power structure."

In his lawsuit ... Flores alleged teams were racist in their hiring practices -- claiming owners were only interviewing him and other Black candidates to satisfy league rules before going on to hire white coaches.

Dickerson made it clear he believes the lack of Black head coaches in the league is a problem ... and he said in addition to changing out commissioners, adding Black owners could help things.

"A shift in power is the only thing that will change the way it is," E.D. said. "You’re not going to make everyone happy, and I understand that. That’s not how life works, but we need to make real progress."

The former running back pointed toward the NBA as an org. the NFL should model itself after -- saying he believes its structure at the top has led to more diversity in its coaching ranks.

In another strange twist ... controversial Russian skating star Kamila Valieva fell to the ice multiple times and failed to medal in the women's free skate event.

15-year-old Valieva -- the best skater in the world -- was heavily favored to win leading up to the competition, but ended up finishing fourth after suffering one of the worst performances of her young career.

Kamila has been at the center of a firestorm of controversy ... after it was revealed last week that she failed a drug test in December. Valieva was popped for a performance-enhancing drug named trimetazidine. The drug helps blood flow and endurance.

Valieva was ultimately suspended for the positive test by Russian drug officials ... who then quickly reversed course, un-suspending her just a day later.

Other Olympic entities appealed the lifting of the suspension ... so the decision went to an organization called the Court of Arbitration (CAS), who ruled Valieva should be allowed to compete, despite seemingly being caught cheating.

One of their reasons? It'd cause "irreparable harm" to the 15-year-old skater.

Although Kamila didn't medal in Wednesday's event ... she did win a gold medal last week. It's still unclear if she will get to keep her medal.

Longtime Dallas Cowboys exec Rich Dalrymple is adamant he did not film cheerleaders who were changing in a stadium locker room back in 2015 ... this despite multiple women alleging he did.

Dalrymple released a statement this week saying reports that he pulled out his phone and photographed women while they were changing at AT&T Stadium nearly seven years ago were flat-out not true.

"People who know me, co-workers, the media and colleagues, know who I am and what I'm about," Dalrymple said. "I understand the very serious nature of these claims and do not take them lightly. The accusations are, however, false."

ESPN broke the story Wednesday ... reporting that multiple women had accused Dalrymple of the disturbing act.

The women said it happened during a Kickoff Luncheon on Sept. 2, 2015 ... claiming the Cowboys exec used a keycard to gain access to their changing area and then began recording on his phone.

One woman who claimed she was in the locker room at the time allegedly said, according to ESPN, that she ran toward Dalrymple and chased him off.

ESPN also reported that Dalrymple had been accused of inappropriately filming Jerry Jones' daughter, Charlotte Jones Anderson, inside of the Cowboys' NFL Draft war room in 2015.

Regarding that accusation, ESPN reported that a viewer said he had seen Dalrymple on a live stream pointing his phone at Charlotte, a Cowboys' senior vice president.

The Cowboys, though, released a statement to ESPN saying it investigated all of the claims against Dalrymple "thoroughly" ... but "found no evidence of wrongdoing."

In his statement this week, Dalrymple said the incident with Charlotte "simply did not happen."

He added, "Everything that was alleged was thoroughly investigated years ago, and I cooperated fully."

Still, ESPN reported Wednesday that Dalrymple was issued "a formal written warning in October 2015." The outlet also reported that the team "paid a confidential settlement of $2.4 million" following the cheerleaders' claims.

Dalrymple retired earlier this month after working for the team for many years, but told ESPN his departure had nothing to do with the allegations.

Prince Andrew settled a lawsuit with a woman who claimed the royal had sex with her when she was a minor.

According to new legal docs, the Duke of York and Virginia Giuffre reached an out-of-court settlement after she brought suit against Andrew.

As we reported ... Giuffre claims Andrew had sex with her 3 times when she was still a minor -- in London, New York and the Virgin Islands -- but he categorically denied the allegations.

In the docs, Prince Andrew's legal team says he intends to make a "substantial donation" to Giuffre's charity in support of victims' rights. There are no specific financial details included in the docs.

There's a photo of Prince Andrew, Giuffre and Jeffrey Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell ... though Andrew says he doesn't recall taking the pic.

In the docs, Andrew says he regrets his association with Epstein and commends Giuffre and other survivors for their bravery in standing up for themselves and others.

Prince Harry had a mask on at some point during the Super Bowl, but he ditched it at another point and joined a VERY large crowd of celebrities and others who flaunted COVID protocols ... and, real talk, the rules are looking increasingly ridiculous.

As for those who joined Harry in the easy-breathing sections ... Kendall Jenner, Drake, The Rock, LeBron, The Weeknd, Justin and Hailey Bieber, Charlize Theron, Kanye, Kevin Hart, Matt Damon, Floyd Mayweather, Martha Stewart, Michael Strahan, Olivia Rodrigo, Shawn Mendes, Ben and Jen, Joe Jonas, 2 Chainz, Nelly, Ellen DeGeneres & Portia, Rebel Wilson ... we could go on and on.

As we reported, the L.A. County Health Dept. warned everyone who attended ... wear a mask or else. They even said they were going to make sure people didn't pull a popcorn trick ... eating a bucket slowly without a mask.

The reality ... there was no popcorn police, nor should there be. Even L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti -- who ridiculously defended not wearing a mask a few weeks back at the same venue by saying he held his breath -- was out there again without a mask, and this time he was clearly inhaling and exhaling as he chatted up some folks.

California lifted its mask mandate Monday, but L.A. County is not following suit and still requires masks indoors ... something, at this point, has clearly become a joke.

After his COVID vaccine stance cost him a shot at his 21st major title in Australia, Novak Djokovic says he still won't get the shots ... saying he'll now opt out of tournaments with vax mandates going forward.

The tennis star broke it all down for BBC in an interview published Tuesday ... explaining that even after all the drama he went through at the Australian Open last month, he's still not going to get the vaccine.

In fact, he told the outlet if Wimbledon or the French Open or any other huge tourney implements similar vax rules ... he'll just now sit those out, saying he feels that strongly about the vaccine.

"Yes," he said, "that is the price that I'm willing to pay."

Djokovic explained he's not an anti-vaxxer -- saying, "I was never against vaccination, but I've always supported the freedom to choose what you put in your body."

Djokovic essentially said he's not willing to get the COVID vaccine just yet because he just doesn't know what it might do to his body.

"Principles of decision making on my body are more important than any title or anything else," he said. "I'm trying to be in tune with my body as much as I possibly can."

The comments are the first ones that Djokovic has made since he was famously kicked out of Australia due to his unvaxxed status.

Djokovic told the outlet he didn't fabricate anything when it came to his application for his visa ... and he added that he "completely" disagreed with the government's officials' decision to deport him from the country.

There had been some buzz that Djokovic could, potentially, get the vaccine following it all ... and while Novak didn't slam the door on one day getting it, he made it clear it ain't happening anytime soon.

Whoopi Goldberg is back on "The View," and there are no sour grapes, at least outwardly, over her suspension -- and she's vowing she won't shy away from "tough conversations."

The talk show host was sitting in her chair again Monday, and right off the bat ... she addressed the elephant in the room, telling the audience she was grateful to return after her suspension.

Whoopi says the convos they have on TV are challenging ones, and they don’t always get into them as eloquently as they’d sometimes like. Still, she says that won’t deter them from tackling tough topics, ‘cause that’s what they’ve all been hired to do.

Whoopi didn’t harp too much on her 2-week timeout, but did say she appreciated everyone who reached out -- which apparently included some surprising calls or messages -- and in the same breath said she’d done a lot of listening too.

You’ll recall ... she got benched after suggesting the Holocaust wasn’t about race, which got tons of backlash. While trying to apologize, she sorta doubled down ... and ABC chief Kim Godwin forced her to sit out for a little while to reflect on the whole thing.

Eminem paid tribute to Colin Kaepernick on the biggest of stages at the Super Bowl ... spurring discussion (and some confusion) as to whether the NFL was kosher with the move.

The rapper ended his portion of his set Sunday at SoFi Stadium by dropping down to his knee with his head low, and holding the position for a good while as things transitioned over to Dr. Dre again.

Eventually, he got up and took his place among the other performers -- but what only amounted to about 30 seconds or so ended speaking volumes in the NFL’s backyard.

Of course, the question is ... was it sanctioned or not??? Well, depends on who you ask ... and how you interpret the NFL's official response. There are reports saying the move was forbidden by higher-ups, but a rep for the league went on record Sunday ... saying they’d seen Em take a knee during rehearsals, and were well aware it was included.

Whether they ever asked him not to is a different story -- and not necessarily addressed in the guy's statement here. But, it’s irrelevant now -- the dude did it, and by doing so ... definitely invoked the memory of Kap.

As you know, the ex-QB spent his final year or so in the league doing just this before each game, all in the name of social justice.

Eminem has voiced support for the cause, and it seems he wanted to make a point about it during the most important moment of the broadcast.

Author and activist Michael Eric Dyson saw it live at SoFi, and gave Em major props for the gesture.

File this under bizarre, controversial ... Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva has officially been cleared to continue competing in the Winter Olympics, despite failing a drug test that initially resulted in a suspension from competition.

Last week it was revealed that 15-year-old Valieva tested positive for a banned performance-enhancing substance, trimetazidine (aids blood flow), back in December.

The skater -- who won gold in a team skating event -- was suspended.

But, Valieva appealed the suspension ... and the Court of Arbitration for Sport actually sided with the Olympic skater, paving the way for her to continue competing.

And, part of the reason she was cleared?

CAS Director General Matthieu Reeb said preventing Valieva from competing at the Games "would cause her irreparable harm" ... especially considering she's a minor.

Athletes under 16 are held to less stringent doping standards than that of their adult counterparts ... in the eyes of CAS.

FYI, Russia isn't even officially competing in the Olympics because of pervasive cheating. They're officially called the Russian Olympic Committee.

The governing body also said because Valieva failed the test six weeks ago ... and not at the Olympics, it'd be unfair to keep her from skating.

So, Valieva will now compete ... most likely.

Bill Maher went in hard Friday night, using Whoopi Goldberg as an example of how America has become a hateful, spiteful country that celebrates a misinformed view of karma.

The 'Real Time' host railed on the concept of karma, saying it's bulls*** to begin with -- no such thing -- but the lore of karma was actually a positive, zen-type thing, but we've made it a thing of revenge.

Bill's phone was filled with texts after Whoopi was suspended, with friends telling him how happy they were that karma hit her hard. Bill lashed out at his buds, saying yeah, Whoopi has gone after him for his views on COVID and other stuff, but that's called free speech.

He also says she's wrong on COVID and was wrong when she talked about race -- the thing that got her benched for 2 weeks -- but that's called disagreement. As he says, she has a right to speak, and the cure for misinformed speech is more speech. And, as he hilariously mused, Whoopi has a rock-solid defense -- "F*** it, it's 11 AM!"

As Bill puts it, "The View" suspending Whoopi for her views is like firing Pat Sajak for selling a vowel.