Controversial S#!T

Comedian Jordan Carlos sees no problem making jokes about the tragedy in Ukraine ... but he says there's a delicate balance, with some lines that cannot be crossed.

We got Jordan at LAX and asked about some jokes he made when a woman in the audience at one of his gigs brought up Ukraine.

Jordan made some jokes about some folks online who are obsessed with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy ... saying he's hot.

Jordan says comedy helps the audience escape the woes of the real world, so he indulged with a few Zelensky jokes.

Jason "White Chocolate" Williams is wrong ... Kobe Bryant's not only in the top five greatest Lakers of all time -- he's number one!

... that's according to former Los Angeles Lakers center (and former Kobe teammate) John Salley, who tells TMZ Sports there is no better Laker ever than the Black Mamba.

"Kobe is the greatest Laker of all time," Salley said outside of LAX this week.

Of course, Williams is clearly not in agreement with Salley -- because he said on the popular basketball podcast "Players Choice" earlier this month that he wasn't sure if Kobe belonged even in the top-five Laker conversation.

Williams didn't elaborate on why ... but he said he knew the opinion would ruffle feathers.

Salley wasn't pissed about the former NBA point guard's hot take -- but he made it clear to us, Kobe is his No. 1 all-time.

"When you say greatest Laker, I'm just going to go with Jerry West, then it was Magic Johnson," the four-time champion said. "And then, 20 years of Kobe changed the whole attitude."

Aliia Roza, the ex-Russian spy who once fell in love with one of her targets, is turning on Putin over his invasion of Ukraine ... she says he's desperate to win and will stop at nothing.

Aliia issued the chilling warning recently, telling overseas publications Putin will fight to the end because he knows a loss would be a stain on his reputation in Mother Russia.

The former spy says she actually trained in the same Russian military program that produced Putin, where she says trainees learn how to "stay calm and cold-blooded in a very stressful situation."

Aliia, who fled Russia after her oligarch husband was jailed, says she's terrified for her friends and family in both Russia and Ukraine ... because Putin hates to lose.

Aliia's life journey is pretty wild ... she was born in the former Soviet Union and says she was forced to become a Russian spy when she was only a teen. She was taught to seduce both men and women and says she was sexually assaulted by her superiors along the way.

For her first assignment, Aliia says she had to infiltrate a criminal gang of drug suppliers by pretending to be a prostitute ... and she ended up falling for the ring leader, a man named Vladimir.

Aliia says the gang eventually discovered she was a spy and took her to a forest in the dark of night and started beating her ... but she says the gang leader stepped in and saved her life.

After her lifesaver died, Aliia says she married a Russian oligarch in 2006 ... but when he was jailed and then died in prison, she and their young son fled Russia and never looked back.

Aliia bounced around from Switzerland to London before settling in California, and she now lives in a fancy mansion in Beverly Hills ... where she runs a PR firm and rubs elbows with Hollywood celebs.

The parents of Gabby Petito want justice for their daughter -- suing the parents of her killer, Brian Laundrie -- for allegedly knowing more about Gabby's death than they let on.

According to the lawsuit, obtained by TMZ, Gabby's parents say Chris and Roberta Laundrie knew their son had murdered Gabby and believed they were in the process of helping him leave the country.

The docs also mention Gabby's autopsy revealed she'd suffered blunt force injuries to both her head and neck ... additional details from the fact she had been strangled to death.

The lawsuit, filed by Gabby's dad, Joseph Petito, and mom, Nichole Schmidt claim after her death, Brian used Gabby's phone to send text messages ... making it seem like she was still alive.

Gabby's parents say in one of the texts allegedly sent to Schmidt by Laundrie from Gabby's phone, he referred to Gabby's grandfather by his real name, Stan, something she would never have done.

The lawsuit claims Brian was using Gabby's phone up until at least August 30 -- 3 days after she was murdered -- to communicate with Schmidt, saying there was poor cell service in Yosemite.

What's more ... Gabby's parents say they believe it was on August 28, a day after her murder, when Brian told his parents what had happened. The lawsuit alleges it was that same day when the Laundries contacted an attorney ... and hired him a few days later.

Gabby's parents say prior to her disappearance, they had a pleasant relationship with the Laundries, but as the situation got worse, Brian's mom allegedly blocked Gabby's mom's cellphone as well as her account on Facebook.

While the docs don't get into detail on exactly how ... they read, " ... Christopher Laundrie and Roberta Laundrie were keeping the whereabouts of Brian Laundrie secret, and it is believed were making arrangements for him to leave the country."

Gabby's parents say they suffered emotional distress, and are asking for an unspecified amount in damages.

Ex-NBA star Jason "White Chocolate" Williams just pissed off a whole lot of Kobe Bryant fans ... saying he's "not even sure" the Black Mamba is a top-five Laker of all-time.

The former point guard made the shocking claim on the popular hoops podcast "Players Choice" this week ... while discussing where the NBA's greatest should land on an all-time rankings list.

"I haven't really thought about where I got Kobe," Williams said. "But, Kobe's not as high on my list as people would really think he should be."

"I'm not even sure he's on the top five of the all-time greatest Lakers."

One co-host kind of agreed with Williams ... but several others on the show thought the dude was crazy.

Of course, Laker Nation is surely clenching its fists over Williams' comments ... because nearly everyone who's rooted for the Purple and Gold has him pinned somewhere definitively in their top three.

Williams -- who spent 12 seasons in the NBA with the Kings, Grizzlies, Heat and Magic -- went head-to-head with Bryant throughout his career, so it's plausible his opinion was formed as a result of firsthand experience.

Williams didn't mention who he'd possibly have above Kobe ... but the Lakers do have a rich history of ballers (Wilt Chamberlain, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Magic Johnson, Jerry West, Shaquille O' Neal and LeBron James, to name a few).

Kobe's place amongst the Laker icons, though, is cemented in the eyes of many L.A. fans ... as he won five titles, two finals MVPs, and one regular-season MVP in his 20-year career.

Jussie Smollett's courtroom outburst isn't landing for Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot ... who is praising his 5-month jail sentence, condemning him for staging a hate crime and hoping his case is a warning to others.

After Jussie's sentencing, where he shouted he's innocent and left with a fist in the air, Mayor Lightfoot was totally unswayed, saying ... "The city feels vindicated in today's ruling that he is being held accountable and that we will appropriately receive restitution for his actions."

She also reminded everyone what that restitution will cover -- "The malicious and wholly fabricated claim made by Mr. Smollett resulted in over 1,500 hours of police work that cost the city over $130,000 in police overtime."

In other words, the Mayor's certain Smollett got exactly what he deserves at Thursday's sentencing.

Judge James Linn gave the ex-"Empire" actor 150 days in prison, 30 months of probation, a $25k fine and restitution of over $120k.

You'll recall ... Jussie told police he was the victim of a racist homophobic attack, back in 2019. He claimed 2 white men called him slurs, poured chemicals on him and put a noose around his neck.

Of course, brothers Abel and Ola Osundairo, who are Black, told cops the actor paid them to stage the entire "attack."

Travis Scott's announcement about his new charitable project is a blatant attempt to clean up his image after the Astroworld tragedy ... at least according to some of the plaintiffs, who want the judge to stop him from tooting his own horn.

Family member of Ezra Blount, the 9-year-old killed in the Astroworld crush, are pissed about Travis launching his Project HEAL initiative ... or at least they don't think he should be allowed to publicize it through the media. As we reported, Travis announced this week he'd be pouring $5 million into several charitable efforts.

Ezra's father and mother have filed docs asking the judge to amend the gag order put in place last month ... to specifically block Travis from making such announcements, which they feel will taint the potential jury pool in their lawsuits against Travis.

The dad, Treston Blount, calls Project HEAL nothing more than a "highly sophisticated marketing campaign." He points out Travis and his team issued a "look at me" press release to all TV and print media in Harris County, Texas ... the exact place from which the jury will be selected.

Here's the twist, though ... Travis' legal team feels it's Blount's attorney who violated the gag order by publicly disparaging Travis for Project HEAL. In their response, they say Travis was merely continuing his "long history of giving back to his hometown" -- however, Blount's attorney characterized it as Travis trying to say, "Look at me, I'm a good guy."

BTS fans had to get innovative in how to celebrate their favorite band -- with standing, singing and shouting prohibited at a recent concert -- but they were still able to bring the noise.

The supergroup just stepped off the stage after a massive show in South Korea Thursday night. While more than 15,000 were on hand for the show, everyone had to follow strict COVID protocols, set by the government.

In a statement before the show, BTS' management co. Big Hit Music said, "Cheering loudly, yelling, chanting and standing up during 'BTS Permission To Dance On Stage – Seoul' is strictly prohibited according to government guidelines."

However, fans were provided with "clappers" -- and they used them to full potential -- synchronizing claps to the songs, and making plenty of noise in the process.

Thursday's show was the first of 3 the group, who hails from South Korea, will have in their home country ... it's the first they've performed there since the pandemic.

Morgan Wallen's warm reception at the ACM Awards is proof country music is complicit in his use of the N-word ... so says the NAACP Nashville chapter president.

Sheryl Guinn -- president of the Nashville chapter -- tells TMZ ... by welcoming him back into their community, the genre's embrace of Wallen destroys artists' accountability.

The ways she sees it -- people in country music believe Morgan just needed to have enough time pass until people lose their outrage. However, Sheryl says time does not heal all wounds.

She thinks the Academy of Country Music banning Morgan from its 2021 ceremony had no impact ... they never addressed how the N-word is a symptom of the underlying inequality and bigotry. She points to the fact Wallen's album went on to do huge numbers.

As we reported, Wallen was caught on camera hurling the n-word during a rowdy night with friends back in February of 2021.

Sheryl tells us she hasn't seen the country artist make enough of an effort to show his fans why using the N-word is a bad thing. She acknowledges he donated $25K to her division of the NAACP, but says the money doesn't help his followers understand systemic racism.

The last time we spoke to Sheryl, she shared her thoughts on Wallen's 'GMA' interview with Michael Strahan back in July ... saying his words came from a place of embarrassment, and he was sorry for being caught, as opposed to being sorry for spewing a hateful word.

Russell Westbrook says he's done with fans calling him "Westbrick" ... telling reporters Monday night the taunt is now deeply affecting him, his kids and everyone else he closely associates with.

"A lot of times, I let it slide," the L.A. Lakers superstar said following his team's loss to the Spurs in San Antonio. "But now it's time to put a stop to that and put it on notice."

Westbrook has heard the heckle repeatedly this year -- both at home and on the road -- after he's struggled to put up good performances for L.A. on a consistent basis.

Now, though, he said it's gotten so bad ... he's worried about the potential impact it's having on him and his family -- and he says he's going to do everything in his power to stop it.

"Me and my wife were at teacher-parent conferences for my son," said Westbrook, following a a game in which he had 17 points and five turnovers. "And, the teacher told me, '[My son] Noah, he's so proud of his last name. He writes it everywhere. He writes it on everything. He tells everybody and walks around and says, 'I'm Westbrook.''"

"And, I kind of sat there in shock," Westbrook added. "And, it hit me, like, 'Damn. I can no longer allow people [to call me Westbrick].'"

Russ was seen Monday night in San Antonio appearing to shut down the taunt from a courtside fan, yelling at the person from the baseline, "Don't disrespect my name!"

"Every time I do hear it now," Russ said of the taunting, "I will make sure that I address it and make sure I nip that in the bud."

Westbrook's wife, meanwhile, has also urged fans to stop with the jeers ... urging people in a series of tweets this week to cool it -- claiming their family has even gotten death threats over the course of the season.

Brittney Griner's alleged mug shot was shared by Russian State media, marking the first time the WNBA star has been seen "publicly" since her detainment in February.

The 31-year-old center for the Phoenix Mercury was taken into custody last month at an airport near Moscow ... after Russian customs officials claim a drug dog alerted to her carry-on luggage, which allegedly contained hashish oil (for a vape).

Russian officials say they've launched a drug trafficking investigation ... and if convicted, Griner could face a decade behind bars in Russia.

Russia's state-owned news channel, Russia 24, aired a photo of Griner's mug shot. State media reported the booking photo was taken at a Russian police station, according to CNN.

The mug shot is significant because Griner has not been seen or heard from publicly in weeks.

The arrest couldn't come at a worse time for the WNBA superstar. Russia is in the midst of a full-out assault on Ukraine, and the United States and many other countries have sanctioned the Russian government, seriously ratcheting up tensions.

Now, the Russian government has a high-profile American prisoner ... and could become a pawn or bargaining chip for Putin.

As for the efforts to bring Brittney home -- we recently spoke with longtime U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham who told us the State Dept. is doing everything in its power to return the star hooper to her family and friends in the States.

Brittney Griner's detainment in Russia is drawing a strong reaction from the family of a U.S. Marine who's also imprisoned there ... and they're not buying what the Russians are selling.

The family of Trevor Reed, a retired Marine from Texas who's been locked up in Russia since 2019, is "highly skeptical" of the allegations surrounding Brittney, because they've seen the Russians fabricate criminal cases.

That's why Reed's family rep, Jonathan Franks, tells us the family believes the claim Brittney was traveling with hashish oil could be totally bogus ... and they're accusing the Russians of manufacturing criminal charges against other Americans, including Trevor.

As we reported, Russian officials have opened up a drug trafficking investigation after customs officials at an airport near Moscow claimed to have found vape cartridges in Brittney's carry-on.

Franks says he'd bet his car Griner was NOT in possession of cannabis, and the facts surrounding Trevor's case might explain why.

For those who don't know, Trevor was convicted in July 2020 and sentenced to 9 years in a Russian prison for allegedly endangering the life and health of Russian police officers during an altercation in Moscow.

The U.S. ambassador to Russia, John Sullivan, says the alleged crime never happened and has even described Trevor's case as "theater of the absurd."

The Reeds deny the allegations against Trevor, and recognize Brittney's situation as tragic. We're told they hope her circumstances, and Trevor's, will wake up folks to the danger of being an American in Russia.

We're told Trevor's loved ones are reaching out to Brittney's family ... offering to provide any support and insight from their dealings with Russia.

Sen. Lindsey Graham told us the State Dept. is working on securing Brittney's release ... and the Reeds say Trevor could use help too, because he might have been exposed to tuberculosis in prison.

Morgan Wallen is back in the house for a big country music award show ... getting a big warm welcome for his return following last year's ban.

Morgan was all smiles Monday night at the Academy of Country Music Awards, sitting right in the thick of the ceremony at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, looking dapper and getting a ton of hugs.

There's a big reason for Morgan to smile ... remember, he was banned from a ton of award shows, including these same ACMs last year, in the wake of video surfacing of Wallen using the n-word ... but now he's back on the rise.

It's got to feel good for Morgan, being welcomed back to country radio and the award circuit. He also got a ton of love back in October when he was a surprise guest at an Eric Church concert in Philadelphia.

Morgan's also got Lil Durk in his corner now ... the two collaborated on a song together, "Broadway Girls," and Durk says Morgan is no racist.

Hoda Kotb has a hard time viewing devastating images of Ukrainian children and families fleeing the war -- she calls it "disturbing" -- but feels it's important the world sees it.

We got Hoda Monday outside NBC Studios, and she shared her emotional response to the gut-wrenching images coming out of Ukraine as Russia's gruesome attacks continue.

This harrowing video of a young boy alone and crying is a painful reality for most children throughout the country ... as they are left to fend for themselves.

The 'Today Show' co-anchor tells us it is especially heartbreaking to see photos from an orphanage, being a mom herself. Hoda adopted her first daughter, Haley, back in 2017 and her second, Hope, in 2019.

She says every mom can look at what's happening and think it "could be any of us at any time."

Senator Lindsey Graham caught some heat for suggesting someone needed to assassinate Vladimir Putin to end this Russia-Ukraine conflict ... and now, he's doubling down.

We got LG Monday at Reagan National Airport in D.C., and asked him to respond to the backlash he received last week after floating the possibility of Russians taking Putin out.

The basis of the criticism ... such talk is dangerous, and certainly not something a U.S. public official should be spewing -- even if it is something that's been on folks' minds.

Well ... Sen. Graham not only stands by what he said, but expands a bit on the subject -- saying just about everybody in the world sees what the Russian president is doing, and can clearly see the guy's a war criminal who must be stopped.

Graham notes Putin's been getting away with atrocities for years -- so, yes, he doesn't see anything wrong with musing about the possibility of his own people removing the man ... one way or another.

Our photog took the opportunity to ask about WNBA star Brittney Griner, who's being detained by Russian authorities on a drug charge.

They say time heals all, but that's not the case when it comes to Kyrie Irving and Celtics fans ... 'cause the NBA star just compared the Boston fanbase to "a scorned girlfriend" after getting heckled during Sunday's matchup.

Celtics fans chanted "Kyrie sucks" late in the 4th quarter in Boston's 126-120 win ... and Irving addressed the hate during his postgame interview.

"It's like the scorned girlfriend who wants an explanation on why I left, but still hoping for a text back," Irving said of the jeers. "I'm just like, 'It was fun while it lasted.'"

Of course, the relationship between Irving and Celtics fans soured when KI declined an option to return to the franchise after playing only two seasons for the team ... despite previously saying he was planning to stay long-term.

Since then, C's fans have made it a point to boo and show their disproval for Irving every time he returns to Boston ... making sure he's well aware they haven't forgotten how he left them hanging.

Despite the remarks, Irving did say he was grateful for the time he spent as a Celtic ... and he still remains close with a lot of the guys he played with, like Jayson Tatum, Marcus Smart and Jaylen Brown.

The relationship with JT appeared to shine through ... as Tatum tried to quiet the fans from saying "Kyrie sucks" as Brown shot free throws.