Controversial S#!T

Mark Cuban is adamant that a Mavericks exec did not sexually assault Donnie Nelson's nephew ... saying in a statement that the former Dallas GM's claims are a lie.

Cuban issued the strongly-worded response after 59-year-old Nelson made the allegations in a lawsuit filed in Dallas County.

In the suit, Nelson said his nephew was interested in getting a job in sports and entertainment -- and went to interview with Jason Lutin, Cuban's chief of staff with the Mavericks, about openings in the NBA team's org in 2020.

Nelson claims the two talked while out at lunch during a work trip in Chicago -- when Nelson says Lutin asked Nelson's nephew to go back to his hotel room to talk further.

In the docs, Nelson claims that's where Lutin sexually harassed and sexually assaulted his nephew.

Nelson says his nephew notified the Mavs of the incident ... but claims Cuban swept it all under the rug, insisting Cuban bought "his way out of the problem."

Nelson added that when he learned of the alleged incident months later and brought it up to Cuban and others in the org., Cuban and the Mavericks asked him to sign a confidentiality agreement and remain quiet about it all.

Nelson claimed Cuban wanted to silence him "so the Mavericks could hide from the public and the Mavericks' employees that the Mavericks were allowing a sexual predator to continue working for the Mavericks." He added that he believes he was eventually wrongly fired over it all.

In a statement to ESPN on Thursday, Cuban insisted none of Nelson's claims were true, saying, "Everything in that filing is a lie."

"We did multiple complete investigations and the only person that did not live up to the standards of the Dallas Mavericks was Mr. Nelson," Cuban said. "He was fired as a result. He was well aware of the investigation. He refused to fully participate. I will say it again, everything he said is a lie."

Lutin also denied the claims in a statement.

Sharon Osbourne is ready to talk again in front of cameras -- she's joining a new network in England where she'll be able to share her opinion, and her new TV home has a familiar ring.

Sharon was just announced as an on-screen talent for the soon-to-launch UK network, TalkTV ... which is the same network that will air a new Piers Morgan hosted show during primetime.

Sharon and Piers appeared in a quick promo for the upcoming show ... easy to tell they get along without issue.

The network says Sharon will be a panelist on a show about current events, and it's called "The Talk," coincidentally enough.

Of course, Sharon got booted from "The Talk" on CBS after defending Piers following his controversial attack on Meghan Markle ... and she recently told us she would never go back to CBS, even if they unloaded a Brinks truck in front of her house.

Karen Fukuhara, famous for her starring role in Amazon Prime Video's "The Boys," says she was the victim of an anti-Asian hate crime.

Karen says the alleged assault went down Wednesday and came out of nowhere. She says she was walking down a street to pick up some coffee at a café when a random passerby struck her in the back of the head as they walked by each other ... she did not name the location of the alleged attack.

The actress says she hadn't even made eye contact with her alleged attacker and she "wasn't doing anything out of the ordinary." Karen says she's physically fine after the alleged attack, but says the force of the blow to the back of her head knocked her hat off.

Karen says she spun around and her alleged attacker was already walking away. She says she didn't confront him out of fear and says he started yelling at her.

KF says it's the first time she's been the victim of what she's calling a "hate crime" and she says she feels lucky the alleged attacker wasn't armed.

The alleged attack has Karen contemplating a self-defense class ... and she says she wants to bring awareness to the rise in attacks on women, Asians and the elderly.

Kanye West is being put in Instagram timeout after going after Kim, Pete, Pete's writing partner and a racist attack on Trevor Noah.

A spokesperson for Meta tells us Kanye's recent posts violated Instagram's policies on hate speech, harassment and bullying. As a result, we're told his account has been suspended for 24 hours -- where he won't be able to post, comment, send DM's, among other things.

The spokesperson tells us they'll take additional steps if further violations happen.

If you look on Kanye's page, at least one post has been deleted already, where Yeezy repeatedly hurled racial slurs at Trevor Noah.

As you know ... Kanye's been lashing out at more than just Trevor on social media, he's also posted and deleted a bunch of dirty laundry about estranged wife Kim Kardashian and her new boyfriend Pete Davidson, plus D.L. Hughley.

In all honesty, it's surprising it's taken this long ... but supposedly the previous attacks -- some of which could've been perceived as threats -- just weren't enough.

Yeezy wouldn't be the first big name to get the boot from Mark Zuckerberg's app ... remember, Kanye's good friend Donald Trump got the heave-ho in the wake of the Jan. 6 riots.

Jussie Smollett is going free -- at least for now -- while he tries to get his sentence for the hoax attack overturned.

The appeals court ordered Jussie's release during the appeal process. He's being released from Cook County Jail on his own recognizance, but if he misses any future hearings it'll cost him $150,000. It's unclear when exactly he'll be walking free.

Clearly, the state isn't happy with the decision ... its response to the ask for release reads, in part, "Rather than attempt to meet his burden of showing good cause for his immediate release, Mr. Smollett makes only cursory, woefully undeveloped arguments. Each fails to demonstrate good cause to stay his jail sentence."

As you know, Jussie had begun serving his 5 months last Thursday -- and immediately after the judge sentenced him he was defiant ... shouting he was innocent and raising his fist in the air as he was taken out of court in handcuffs.

His defense team and family members never stopped pressing for his release, though ... claiming Jussie was in physical danger while behind bars. They cited racist and homophobic threats they'd received, and also said Jussie was immunocompromised ... and highly susceptible to contracting COVID-19 while in jail

Story developing ...

Kanye West is turning his anger toward Trevor Noah now ... firing off a racial slur after Trevor warned Ye and Kim Kardashian's feud could turn violent.

Ye was up at 5 AM PT to post Trevor's pic and caption it with the mocking and racist lyrics, "K**n baya my lord k**n baya K**n baya my lord K**n baya Oooo' lord K**n baya."

Clearly, Kanye had seen last night's 'Daily Show' where Trevor addressed the ongoing feud between Kim, Ye and Pete Davidson.

He said while it's true Kim loves publicity, it can also be true that she's being harassed by her now ex-husband.

Trevor compared it to his own mother getting shot by Trevor's stepfather ... and suggested society stop making jokes about Kim and Ye's divorce. He added, "Do we wish to stand by and watch a car crash when we thought we saw it coming?"

Kanye's racist rebuttal to Trevor's commentary comes days after he posted an angry video accusing Kim of keeping their kids away from him, and Pete and Ye's text exchange ... where Pete allegedly said he was "in bed with your wife."

Jussie Smollett's lawyers have wasted no time demanding his release from jail -- at least while his appeal plays out --- claiming he risks being harmed (physically and microbially) every second he stays behind bars.

The 'Empire' actor's legal team filed an emergency motion Monday asking a judge to spring Jussie from behind bars while his appeal is pending -- arguing that the potential cons of him staying locked up in Cook County far outweigh any benefits.

The crux of their case here is that Jussie's family has been on the receiving end of what they say is a barrage of harassing messages and phone calls aimed at Jussie ... which they say is emblematic of the harm that might actually befall him if he remains locked up.

To hammer this home ... Jussie's team offers up a video taken by the Smollett family which they say shows a stranger calling them with disgusting sentiments about what should happen to their brother as he serves his 5-month sentence.

They claim the clip -- which is laced with racist and homophobic slurs -- is just one example of what they say has been a deluge of hate sent their way -- and they fear that'll translate into real-world violence against their brother on the inside.

There are other reasons they say he should be out ... for one, they attach a sworn affidavit from a doctor who states Jussie is at a higher risk of catching COVID due to a compromised immune system ... while citing positive case rates in jails and prisons across the country.

On top of this ... Jussie's lawyers argue that because he's being held in protective custody -- which they say is akin to solitary confinement -- his mental health will deteriorate.

Big picture, they continue to reiterate all the points they made in court in trying to get the case tossed in the first place -- including the argument that he's already been punished for all this ... so the whole thing amounts to unconstitutional double jeopardy.

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."