Controversial S#!T

Lindsey Graham is getting dragged for saying someone in Russia should murder Putin, and by a person that knows a lot about the subject -- the Navy SEAL who shot and killed Osama bin Laden.

Robert O'Neill tells TMZ ... as a Senator, Graham shouldn't have made those comments. He notes Graham's a part of the Senate Armed Services Committee, and believes the Senator should be using those backdoor channels to get the work done instead of talking about it on news TV -- noting politicians shouldn't be worrying about ratings.

Senator Graham took to Fox News on Friday, responding to the terrors developing in Ukraine ... saying "The only way this ends is for somebody in Russia to take this guy out. You would be doing your country and the world a great service."

Now, Robert doesn't completely disagree with Graham, telling us someone on the inside should put a hit on Putin if the madness doesn't end soon. For now, he's hoping this can all end without getting messy and one of Putin's associates knocks some sense into him!

Robert says Putin is losing his mind ... and something needs to get done quickly, as innocent people die every day in Ukraine.

'Jeopardy!' is getting ahead of any issues viewers might have with tonight's episode that features a clue tying Russia and Ukraine together ... saying it was recorded well before the current conflict in Europe.

The show's Twitter account posted a message Friday, hours before the show aired, that read, "Please note the clue in today's show concerning Russia and Ukraine was recorded on Jan. 11, 2022."

As for the clue in question, it's alleged to be, "The Kerch Strait -- Along with Serious Border Issues -- Separates Russia From This Country on The Black Sea."

"Euphoria" star Angus Cloud says his show doesn't glorify substance abuse, and insists drugs are not something to take lightly.

We got Angus Thursday leaving the Revolve Social Club in L.A., and he talked about all things "Euphoria" -- mainly, if the hit HBO dramedy is sending the wrong message to young viewers about drugs.

He thinks the claims against the series are BS ... adding drugs aren't fun and games.

Fans of the show know Angus' character, Fezco, plays an important role ... originally supplying drugs to Zendaya's Rue Bennett before cutting her off.

As we reported ... anti-drug organization D.A.R.E. recently called out the series for glamorizing drug abuse, with a rep telling TMZ the show dangerously portrays severe addictions as common in high schools.

"Euphoria" producers say all they're trying to do is accurately depict the downfalls of addiction.

Angus also addressed whether the show paints an accurate picture of modern high school culture. Watch, he gives us a very honest answer.

Sherri Papini made national headlines 5 years ago when she was reportedly kidnapped ... well now there's been an arrest -- no, the kidnappers weren't busted ... Sherri was.

The California mom was arrested Thursday night for staging her own disappearance. On top of that, she was charged with fraudulently obtaining tens of thousands of dollars in victim's assistance funds.

Papini was reported missing in early November 2016 and was later found on Thanksgiving day about 150 miles away from her home. She told law enforcement that she was abducted and held at gunpoint by 2 Hispanic women. She worked with an FBI artist who came up with a sketch of the alleged kidnappers.

Well ... according to the Justice Department's criminal complaint ... the DOJ says she lied about the whole thing and was actually staying with her ex-boyfriend when she claimed she was kidnapped.

On top of that, she allegedly harmed herself to make it look authentic.

In 2020, she doubled down on her story when she was interviewed by the feds ... although she was told that there was evidence to show that her story was a big fat lie.

Papini ended up racking up $30K in victim assistance from the California Victim's Compensation Board from 2017 to 2021 ... which included payments for therapy.

If convicted, she faces a maximum of a quarter-century behind bars.

Meghan Markle didn't have the crappy childhood she wants the public to believe, according to her half sister ... who is now dragging Meghan to court, suing over that famous Oprah Winfrey interview.

Samantha Markle is suing Meghan for defamation, and she's especially pissed about some of the things she and Prince Harry told Oprah about the Markle fam. In the docs, obtained by TMZ, Samantha rips into Meghan for spinning a "rags to royalty" narrative about herself which she claims is simply false.

Samantha claims Meghan is trashing her, and spreading outright lies, in order to bolster the notion she's overcome leeching family members. For example, Sam points out she and Meghan share the same father in Thomas Markle ... yet Meghan told Oprah she was an "only child."

She also claims Meghan dropped another lie when she told Oprah she'd last seen Samantha "at least 18, 19 years ago and before that, 10 years before that."

Those aren't the only alleged disses ... Samantha claims Meghan got it flat out wrong when she told Oprah Samantha only changed her surname to Markle after Meghan started dating Harry.

In the suit, Samantha also claims Meghan's fabricated tales of growing up in "virtual poverty" ... because Thomas paid for her to attend "elite and expensive private schools," and dance and acting classes. She claims dad also covered Meghan's tuition and living expenses when she went to Northwestern University ... something the Duchess told Oprah and Ellen DeGeneres she worked to pay for herself.

As for Meghan's motive -- Samantha claims the alleged lies about her and their father were part of a calculated effort so "they could not interfere with or contradict the false narrative and fairytale life story concocted by" Meghan.

Samantha says Meghan's harsh words have hurt sales of her autobiography, prevented her from getting jobs and caused emotional and mental distress.

Ronda Rousey is throwing her support behind Cain Velasquez following his attempted murder arrest earlier this week ... saying if the allegations are true, she "would have done the same thing" as the UFC legend.

The WWE star explained her stance on her social media page Thursday ... saying she doesn't blame Velasquez one bit for allegedly going after the man who was accused of molesting one of his close relatives.

In fact, Rousey -- whose husband Travis Browne lost to Velasquez at UFC 200 in 2016 -- said if she had been in Cain's position ... she might have done "worse."

As we previously reported, Velasquez was arrested on Monday in San Jose, CA. after he allegedly tried to kill Harry Goularte, a 43-year-old man who law enforcement says inappropriately touched one of Velasquez's family members at a child care facility days earlier.

In court documents, officials say Velasquez chased Goularte and his family members in his black Ford F250 ... rammed them, and then shot at them repeatedly, ultimately striking Goularte's stepdad in the arm.

Velasquez was eventually hit with 10 criminal charges, including felony attempted murder, over the incident ... and if he's convicted on all counts, he's facing decades behind bars.

Huge victory for Novak Djokovic -- the Serbian tennis star is now expected to play in the French Open after French officials announced they will lift the country's vaccine passport mandate this month.

France had initially barred the unvaccinated from participating in events like the major tennis tournament ... citing health and safety reasons.

Of course, that rule was slated to preclude Djokovic from playing in May's tournament ... because, well, the guy is famously not vaccinated and said earlier this year he would absolutely miss any event that had a mandate in place.

But, officials announced Thursday the order is coming to an end on March 14 ... and with the tourney set to begin on May 22, Djokovic is now slated to, once again, be a participant.

It's a big deal for Djokovic ... because after he was barred from the Australian Open in January, Rafael Nadal ended up winning the tournament and overtaking Djokovic for most career majors with 21 total.

It's still unclear if 34-year-old Novak will be able to play in any other majors following the French Open -- mandates are still in place all over the globe.

Mike Trout -- arguably the best player in Major League Baseball -- is fed up with the lockout ... blasting the league for refusing to come to an agreement with the players and canceling games instead.

"I want to play," Trout said Wednesday. "I love this game. But I know we need to get this (collective bargaining agreement) right."

"Instead of negotiating a deal, Rob canceled games."

Trout went on ... "Players stand together. For our game, for our fans, and for every player who comes after us."

"We owe it to the next generation."

Of course, Mike is referring to Rob Manfred's decision to cancel the first two series of the MLB season ... after the league and MLBPA failed to ratify the CBA.

The commissioner's decision to cancel games at the beginning of the season comes after the league and the players couldn't reach a resolution after a week of negotiations.

Some of the game's biggest names weighed in on the lockout, with newly acquired Cubs pitcher Marcus Stroman calling the commish "Manclown."

Anthony Rizzo -- who spent 8 seasons with the Cubs, but is now a free agent -- said, "To the fans we will miss you most. To the younger generation of baseball players, this is for you."

Paris Jackson is about to go on tour for the first time ever ... one of her stops is being promoted by the same company behind her dad's last tour ... cut short before it began because of MJ's death.

Sources close to Paris tell TMZ ... Michael's daughter is hitting the road this month, marking her debut tour as a solo artist. We're told she'll be jetting off to Paris this weekend for a show ... one that's going to be promoted by AEG, which is interesting. More on that in a bit.

Anyway, later in March ... Paris will be coming back home for a string of gigs in the States alongside musician Patrick Droney ... with whom she'll tour and perform concerts in cities like Vegas, L.A., Seattle, Portland and others.

That's all well and good ... but back to AEG, which she's teamed up with for her Paris gig ... which also has a rocky history with the Jackson family.

You’ll recall… MJ’s mom Katherine sued AEG for wrongful death back in 2010, claiming it was partially to blame for the King of Pop’s 2009 death based on its alleged ill-fated hiring of Dr. Conrad Murray.

The jury ultimately decided in AEG’s favor, deciding Michael's death was caused by his drug abuse, and AEG was not responsible for protecting his health.

Former Formula 1 driver Daniil Kvyat is speaking out against banning Russian athletes amid the attack on Ukraine ... calling it an "unfair solution."

As we previously reported, FIFA, the International Olympic Committee and other top sports organizations have expressed desire to prevent Russian athletes from participating in the international competition following last week's invasion ... as well as the Automobile Federation of Ukraine, which has called on the FIA to ban Russian drivers from racing in F1.

27-year-old Kvyat -- the most successful F1 driver from Russia -- sounded off on the idea in a lengthy statement on Tuesday ... saying it's going against everything sports represents.

"I really hope for a peaceful solution to this situation in Ukraine, and that we can all live in peace," he said on Twitter. "Hopefully all parties can find a solution by sitting together and through a respectful dialogue."

"It horrifies me to see two brotherhood nations in a conflict. I don't want military actions and wars to influence the future of humanity, I want my daughter and all children to enjoy this beautiful world."

He added ... "I also would like to highlight and address all sports federations across the world including IOC that sport should remain outside politics and disallowing Russian athletes and teams from participating in world competitions is an unfair solution and goes against what sport teaches us in its principle -- the unity and peace."

"Who else if not us sports people will help to glue nations together in the upcoming times."

Several massive Russian athletes have spoken out against the attack ... including Alexander Ovechkin, Andrey Rublev and more.

Art Briles will no longer serve on Hue Jackson's coaching staff at Grambling State ... this, after the hire was met with a ton of backlash.

The ex-Baylor head coach was set to become offensive coordinator for the Tigers next season ... his first big-time gig since getting canned over his involvement in alleged sexual assault coverups at Baylor from 2012-16.

Jackson defended the Briles hire in a statement Monday ... citing forgiveness, redemption and enlightenment as key factors to making the decision.

But, just hours later, Briles is out of the job again ... with Pete Thamel reporting the coach is no longer joining the staff.

This isn't the first time a team has quickly switched its decision on Briles -- the same thing happened with the Canadian Football League's Hamilton Tiger-Cats in 2017, when he was brought in to serve as assistant offensive head coach.

Briles went on to coach in Italy before taking a gig with Mount Vernon HS in Texas in 2019 ... earning a 20-6 record over 2 seasons.

Shaquille O'Neal was a horrific teammate to rookies back in the day ... so says Gary Payton, who claims the Big Diesel used to pour his waste on guys who were using the bathroom.

Payton, who was Shaq's teammate for one year with the Lakers and then two years with the Heat in the 2000s, explained how the vile acts would go down during a recent interview with Vlad TV.

The Glove said Shaq would go to the bathroom in a bucket "for about a week" -- and then dump it on unsuspecting rookies who were in stalls.

"He would pour it on them," Payton said.

GP didn't identify which rookies were on the receiving end of the disgusting "prank" -- but he said he at least made an effort to get Shaq back for it all.

Payton explained he'd take the former NBA superstar's underwear from time to time, forcing him to "be free-ballin' all the time."

A U.S. congressman has the internet dumbfounded by a cryptic tweet aimed at young folks -- and while some try to figure out what he means ... it's music to others peoples' ears.

Representative Clay Higgins -- who reps Louisiana's 3rd congressional district -- fired off a bizarre message Sunday ... seemingly pissed off at liberals -- but his insult kinda fell flat, because no one really knows what the hell he's even saying.

Higgins wrote, "You millennial leftists who never lived one day under nuclear threat can now reflect upon your woke sky. You made quite a non-binary fuss to save the world from intercontinental ballistic tweets."

There's a lot to unpack here ... millennial leftists ... woke sky ... non-binary fuss ... intercontinental ballistic tweets??? Indeed, there's a lot of good standout imagery here -- and as a result, it's got many thinking these are great band names and/or album titles.

Others imagined this as something a comic book character might say in a panel ... just 'cause it's so dang flowery and ominous. And even more yet thought it was poetic!

Even Dictionary.com got in on the fun ... directly responding to Rep. Higgins by asking the obvious -- whatcha mean, man??? They wrote, "We’re not entirely sure what this tweet is supposed to mean, and we’re literally the dictionary."

As for what CH is actually getting at ... it appears to be related to Ukraine -- and without reading too much into it ... he seems to be parroting far-right talking points that have bubbled up during this whole fiasco -- namely, about how this is all about culture wars.

Yes, even in this dire time ... it would seem some simply can't let go of that mindset -- and even crazier, just as many, in some cases, are even embracing and cozying up to Russia right now, sympathizing with their cause!

As millions of people attempt to leave Ukraine and seek refuge in neighboring countries, a disturbing trend has surfaced ... namely, Africans, allegedly, being discriminated against.

Several videos and accounts have emerged over the past 24 hours or so from Africans and other POC, who claim they are not being allowed to board certain trains and other modes of transportation to flee Ukraine -- and they think it's because of the color of their skin.

This mostly appears to be happening at the Ukrainian-Polish border in the northwest region, where many allege that border agents and local police are literally letting white Ukrainians hop on in ... while refusing access -- or at the very least, limiting access -- to Black people.

Multiple clips appear to show scores of African migrants and/or expatriates being left behind at train stations -- and not just that, but actually being pushed back as they try to enter.

One clip shows a group of Africans who appear to have weapons drawn on them, and they shout that they're unarmed students ... tensions escalating quickly. It's unclear who exactly may be deciding who's able to book it out of there first and how -- but the feeling among those on standby (in some cases for days, it seems) is that they're a second-rate class.

As you can imagine, this is creating resentment and frustration -- especially for those who see this from afar and can't help but wonder ... how can racism persist in a time of war???

It's a fair question ... especially if what looks to be happening here is, in fact, going down as described. There isn't much context in a lot of the videos beyond what's being claimed by the person on camera and/or the person posting it. Still ... it looks damning on the face of things.

Many users -- African-American and otherwise -- are sounding off online ... noting that even when Black people show solidarity against a nation in crisis -- those on the ground still might have to go above and beyond for a shred of dignity or mere safety, while others are being afforded exactly that without a blink of the eye. That's the consensus, anyway.

As we've told you ... Russia continues to invade Ukraine, and the military there is trying its best to defend itself -- while Western allies keep putting the financial squeeze on Putin and his people.

Farrah Abraham says she's putting her child's happiness first, and standing by her decision to allow Sophia to get a septum piercing for her 13th birthday.

The "Teen Mom" star tells TMZ ... she's doing her best as a parent -- despite what her critics say -- to make sure her teen is happy and healthy, and if that means Sophia getting a needle through her nose, so be it!

What's interesting is Farrah acknowledges she wasn't personally a fan of Sophia getting the piercing, but says it was more important to her that it be done by a professional ... rather than Sophia sneaking off to do it herself.

Despite not being for it, Farrah sure sounded happy to celebrate the piercing as a new Abraham family milestone. As for Sophia, she's also blocking out the haters, and called her new nose bling a "birthday wish come true".

Seems like the reality star is in a much better place, compared to last month. You'll recall, she was arrested outside a club after allegedly slapping a security guard.

Since the incident, she's moved away from L.A. while threatening to sue the club. She's also said she's had suicidal thoughts due to the arrest.

The brutal Russian invasion of Ukraine is hard for some Americans to understand, so Bill Maher broke it down in terms a pop culture consumer can easily grasp.

Maher broke it down Friday night on "Real Time," equating Ukraine to Kim Kardashian, NATO to Pete Davidson, and -- sorry Ye -- you're Russia.

So, the idea ... Kim (Ukraine) wants her freedom, but she's boldly taken steps to move on from her marriage by forging a romantic alliance with Pete (NATO), and Kanye (Russia) is now throwing up all these false scenarios, claiming they're making his life difficult, so he's now showing unbridled aggression.

Now you get it?

Maher ended his show in true Bill fashion ... showing unbridled contempt for the Republican Party, while blasting the Democrats for squandering an opportunity to avert midterm disaster.

He noted Trump's stranglehold on the Republican Party seems to be waining ... the poll numbers show a drop in support as dramatic as the decline of Omicron.

So, his point ... a lot of folks who were drawn to Trump who felt disenfranchised are now jumping off that train in droves, so they're ripe for the pickin', assuming Democrats don't attack them for having supported Trump in the past. In other words ... show graciousness.

There's a fabulous sports metaphor Obama once used to describe this very opportunity ... and Bill recounts it well.