Controversial S#!T

Jason "White Chocolate" Williams felt the heat for saying Kobe Bryant is not a top-five all-time Laker -- and, now, he's retracting his statement, officially deeming the Black Mamba L.A.'s G.O.A.T.

The former point guard says he misunderstood the question on the "Players Choice" podcast last week when he said he was "not sure" if Bryant was a top-five Laker.

"In the conversation you all heard," Williams said in a lengthy post on his social media page Sunday, "my thinking was that we were talking about ALL the greatest NBA players EVER who wore the Laker purple and gold jersey for at least ONE season."

"I wasn’t talking about the greatest LAKER ever… because of course that’s Kobe!!! Kobe IS the Lakers!!! 💛💜"

In other words ... Williams says he thought the question was strictly from a basketball standpoint -- NOT what each player actually meant to the franchise.

In his IG statement, Williams explained he believes Wilt Chamberlain, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Magic Johnson, Shaquille O'Neal and LeBron James are better hoopers than Bryant, but they don't mean nearly as much to L.A. as Kobe.

"My bad if I've hurt any of y’all feelings, it’s just my opinion!!!" Williams said. "I love this game and I respect this game!! It has nothing to do with Kobe bustin my team’s ass just about every time we played them either."

Lisa Barlow says Jennie Nguyen should get another opportunity to star alongside her on "The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City" ... despite an unceremonious exit.

We got Lisa this week at LAX and asked her about her former 'RHOSLC' castmate Jennie, who was fired by Bravo after some of her allegedly racist social media posts resurfaced from a couple years back.

Lisa says she hasn't heard much from Jennie besides one text, but she hopes she's all good ... and adds that Nguyen's firing has been "hard" on all of the SLC 'housewives.'

Our photog asked if Jennie should get another crack at reality TV, and Lisa told us she's all for giving folks second chances.

Jennie came under fire for her 2020 Facebook posts and re-shares many viewed as attacking Black Americans because the photos and memes were critical of the BLM movement.

Andy Cohen and several 'housewives' condemned the posts, but it sounds like Lisa is having a tough time turning her back on a former friend.

Lisa might be in a forgiving mood, because she's embroiled in her own controversy -- a hot mic incident from a recent 'RHOSLC' episode where she ranted about castmate Meredith Marks.

Lisa was heard branding her former BFF Meredith a "f**king piece of s*** garbage wh**e" ... with Lisa also alleging Meredith "f***ed half of New York."

Kyrie Irving is throwing NYC's vaccine mandate policy right back in its face on primetime TV -- taking in a home game, maskless, from the stands ... but not able to step onto the court.

The awkward scene played out live Sunday during the Nets' home game against Knicks ... which was being carried by ESPN. During the 2nd quarter, the camera panned to KI, who was shaking hands with people down near the bottom of the stands, and then going up to his seat a few rows up.

In this capacity -- as a spectator -- he's totally okay to not wear a mask and move about ... as that is now NYC's policy on events like this, regardless of vaccine status. However, their rule pertaining to private employees hasn't changed -- namely, those folks have to be vaccinated, and Kyrie isn't.

Still ... the irony of the sitch reeks of hypocrisy, but more importantly ... it reeks of a lack of common sense, something that Doris Burke and other announcers broached with trepidation ... because, if we're being honest, the regulations here just don't make sense anymore.

Kyrie's former teammate, LeBron James, was not as shy about expressing his indignation over NYC's backwards thinking. In response to someone pointing out what a joke this is, he wrote ... "FACTS FACTS FACTS!! It literally makes ABSOLUTELY ZERO SENSE!!! They say if common sense was common then we’d all have it. Ain’t that the truth."

LBJ has been outspoken on the pandemic, especially the further into it we've gotten. Remember, it was just in December that he suggested the latest strains were more like the flu or the cold than anything else ... something he was slammed for at the time, as some felt he was downplaying the seriousness of the virus.

Stevie J was apparently receiving oral sex during a FaceTime interview with a reporter -- and while the act itself might be shocking ... what's wilder is the fact she soldiered on!

The journo's name is Leah A. Henry, and she featured the 'Love & Hip Hop' star/Bad Boy producer during an appearance on her 'Leah's Lemonade' show ... where she was discussing a new special of his, and asking a lot of good questions, obviously taking it seriously.

However, it became clear quickly that SJ himself wasn't nearly in the same head space as her -- not only was he shirtless and lying in bed ... but he seemed to have company.

At one point -- after a mysterious hand enters Stevie's frame -- Henry flat out asks him what the heck is going on over there. He's coy about it and never directly cops to being on the receiving end of a sex act -- but that definitely seems to be what's happening here.

Henry, for her part, jokes with Stevie about it ... but doesn't seem to let it phase her -- insisting they carry on. She did exactly that, continuing to ask fairly serious questions, to which Stevie responded ... all while other things looked to be happening in the background.

For starters, Stevie himself is obviously catching backlash over this ... with many calling his stunt super disrespectful and flat-out nutty. If what seems to be going down actually is, then yeah ... that's more than a fair characterization.

On the other hand ... Henry herself is getting criticism as well, with some wondering why she didn't just cut the interview short as soon as she suspected he was getting fellatio ... and a good amount of people are even calling her unprofessional in the way she handled it.

She hasn't taken kindly to that ... defending herself on social media, but not really explaining why she carried on for as long as she did -- other than to say she'll be addressing it at length in her podcast, and encouraging folks to watch the entire thing before passing judgment.

It also sounds like some of the comments she's getting are bordering on harassment ... and perhaps even gaslighting and/or blaming this whole thing on her -- which is a shame.

A guest of Rachel Maddow's compared Putin to Hitler while describing Ukraine -- but in the process ... kinda made it seem like Hitler wasn't nearly as bad, which didn't go over well.

Michael McFaul -- a former U.S. ambassador to Russia -- appeared Friday on Maddow's self-titled show on MSNBC ... this while she was on vacation and had a temporary host, Ali Velshi, filling in. In discussing the war, McFaul made a suspect analogy that got torn apart.

McFaul invoked the Nazis' former leader in an attempt to distinguish what they were doing during WWII and what Putin's doing now ... suggesting that Putin's actions are perhaps worse, because he's killing people with Russian roots -- aka, his "own" people.

The problem with that ... he claimed Hitler didn't necessarily go after ethnic Germans, a dubious assertion and one that Maddow's official blog retweeted as fact, without attribution.

Of course, as many pointed out, McFaul's characterization is false. The Nazis DID, in fact, target/kill "ethnic Germans" for a variety of reasons ... including, for example, disagreeing with their ideology, or not fitting the mold of what they thought was the perfect race.

This also gets to an even more controversial claim ... namely, the Jews who were murdered in and around Germany are not considered ethnic Germans, which many argue is simply not true and highly disrespectful ... if not teetering on anti-Semitism and revisionist history.

Sounds like Maddow's team got the picture pretty quickly, because they deleted their tweet and the accompanying clip -- which had already aired at that point -- and followed up with a correction and an apology.

They write, "The historical record is clear. Hitler killed millions of Germans. We tweeted out part of an inaccurate statement made last night by former Ambassador Michael McFaul without attribution, and we regret doing so. We have since removed the tweet."

Even McFaul himself reversed course, saying he was wrong to try and do a juxtaposition with Hitler ... whom he called "incomparably evil." He also asked for the best literature on this topic to educate himself ... and ended with one final clarification.

He writes, "And please, to clarify the obvious, last night and today, we were NOT discussing Hitler's horrific killing of German citizens. Please have some decency to know that I would never compare Mariupol to the Holocaust."

Ron DeSantis says Disney has joined a false narrative regarding a bill about LGBT education in grade schools there -- while also noting ... he's not backing down from making it law.

The Florida governor lashed out Thursday against what he called yet another "woke" corporation -- aka, Disney -- for trying to torpedo his party's efforts in passing HB 1557 ... which has also been colloquially dubbed as the "Don't Say Gay" bill.

During an event in Boca Raton, DeSantis said Disney isn't gonna make him cave on the issue -- namely, he's going to sign it for what he says is the best interest of families ... going on to point out what he sees as hypocrisy from a company that touts wholesome values.

ICYMI ... Disney caught a lot of backlash last week for initially staying quiet (at least publicly) on the bill, which has become a lightning rod of controversy for months now. Eventually, though, the Mouse House's CEO, Bob Chapek, said they screwed up on that front.

Chapek said Disney had always opposed the bill, but didn't want to take a position on it, as he and leadership apparently thought they could do more BTS -- via lobbying and/or just through their content ... some of which has been viewed as LGBT-friendly, especially lately.

But, after being rebuked by his own employees, he apologized ... saying Disney would, in fact, publicly oppose the bill -- and even expressed Disney's concerns to DeSantis personally.

This clip is basically DeSantis' response to Disney's balancing act ... and to everyone else who's up in arms about this, it seems. He's defiant, and doubled down on this sentiment in an email sent out to donors and supporters shortly thereafter -- again invoking "woke."

As far as what the bill actually says and what would become the law in the Sunshine State, it's worth a read in full. While there are different sections and components, the big sticking point has to do with what students in kindergarten through 3rd grade can or can't learn.

Essentially, this will ban classroom instruction -- either from a teacher themselves or a 3rd-party -- on sexual orientation and/or gender identity in those earlier grades -- while allowing for "age-appropriate" learning in higher grades ... with parents looped in at every juncture.

Jussie Smollett believes there's one overarching reason he was sent to jail, and it's not because of the hoax ... he says it's because he's Black.

Sources with direct knowledge and in constant touch with the "Empire" actor tell TMZ ... Jussie fully expected to get jail time. He told his defense team before sentencing he felt he would be treated more harshly than other defendants convicted of a non-violent crime ... all because of the color of his skin. He thinks it's more evidence of systemic racism in the judicial system.

Jussie told his team after sentencing he was dead-on when he predicted the outcome ... based on the animosity the judge showed toward him. He called it "unfortunate" and "sad."

As you know, the judge read Jussie the riot act, saying the hoax was rooted in a desire for more fame and more attention.

We reached out to the court for comment, and a rep for the Cook County Chief Judge's Office tells TMZ ...  "Judges can't comment on pending cases, and it's still pending."

As we reported ... Jussie will be held in protective custody -- as requested -- while serving his time behind bars, with security cameras and an officer with a body-worn camera monitoring his cell.

Our sources say Jussie spoke out in court about not being suicidal because he wanted to make it clear to the public that if something were to happen to him in jail, it was foul play ... and our sources referenced the Jeffrey Epstein outcome, and that was what was on Jussie's mind when he made the comment.

Alec Baldwin knows no shame in the death of "Rust" cinematographer Halyna Hutchins ... this according to the lawyer for her widower and son.

Attorney Brian Panish is reacting to Baldwin's new legal docs which say the actor wanted to complete the film after Hutchins' death. Panish told Deadline, "It is shameful that Baldwin claims Hutchins' actions in filing a wrongful death lawsuit derailed the completion of Rust. The only action that ended the film's production was Baldwin's killing of Halyna Hutchins."

There's a great divide between Baldwin's take on the fatal shooting and that of Halyna's husband, Matthew Hutchins. Baldwin has said he bears no responsibility for her death, which Panish says, "Alec Baldwin once again is trying to avoid liability and accountability for his reckless actions before and on October 21st that resulted in the death of Halyna Hutchins."

As we reported, Baldwin claimed in his new legal docs his contract with the "Rust" production company immunizes him from financial responsibility for any mishap. That contract, however, in no way prevents the Hutchins family from going after Baldwin. If they win a wrongful death judgment against Baldwin, they could force him to pay the judgment. It would then be Baldwin's responsibility to go after the "Rust" production company to recoup what he paid, provided the production company is still solvent.

Bill Maher has a fascinating take on America's view of Ukraine ... everyone here is making the war about them. Let us explain.

As the "Real Time" host says ... "Everything proves what we already believed and everything goes back to the thing we already hate."

As he puts it ... Biden supporters blame Trump's policies for the war, and vice versa. He hilariously references a comment Trump made about the war, saying it wouldn't have erupted but for a rigged American presidential election. Maher's reaction ... "Kanye thinks less about Pete Davidson than Trump thinks about the rigged election." BTW ... it wasn't rigged.

He points to groups like the 1619 Project, that have invoked race into the Ukrainian mix.  Maher's reaction ... it's not always about race. It's not like an avocado, he says, that you put on everything.

As he puts it, this is just "reflexive partisanship" ... we're now conditioned to viewing anything that happens through our own, sometimes narrow world view. He says, "We put everything new in our mouths and nothing new in our brains."

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."