Controversial S#!T

Brazilian soccer star Marcelo lost his first team spot with French club Lyon for raising a stink -- literally -- with reports claiming the defender's "continuous farting and laughing" in the locker room led to his demotion last year.

The 34-year-old -- who now plays for Bordeaux -- was reportedly initially bumped down to Lyon's reserve squad back in August for laughing during teammate Leo Dubois' speech to boost morale after a bad loss to Angers ... which the club called "inappropriate behavior."

As it turns out, there was a lot more gas behind the decision ... with ESPN claiming Marcelo was punished for incessantly pooting in the dressing room and laughing while around team manager Peter Bosz and director Juninho.

Marcelo went on to make 11 appearances for Lyon II ... scoring 3 goals.

Lyon and Marcelo eventually farted parted ways in January, when the club terminated his contract. Two days later, he joined Bordeaux.

James Cromwell has had enough of Starbucks upcharge for vegan milks ... protesting the move by supergluing his hand to a counter as part of a planned PETA demonstration.

The actor joined a group of PETA protesters Tuesday morning at a Starbucks in Manhattan, where they made a fuss about Starbucks making folks pay more to avoid dairy milk from cows.

James, wearing a shirt reading "Free the Animals," railed against the cons of traditional milk as he was superglued to the counter ... shouting at baristas, who seemed unbothered and kept serving cups of joe.

PETA and James' beef believe Starbucks is discriminating against folks who can't have dairy, punishing them by making them pay more for vegan alternatives like almond milk and oat milk, which are more environmentally conscious.

James says it's a matter of life-and-death in the context of what he sees as a climate catastrophe.

The superglue move is similar to what we saw last month during an NBA game in Minnesota ... when a protester glued her hand to the court to protest Timberwolves owner, Glen Taylor, and his factory egg farm.

Cops showed up to the Starbucks, but James freed his hand from the counter with a knife so he would not get busted.

Britney Spears' latest round of nude pics have folks squaring off ... some say it's a symbol of Britney celebrating her freedom, while others say it's a sign ending the conservatorship may have been a bad idea.

Britney dropped 12 nude pics on Instagram Monday -- the latest in an ever-increasing number of revealing photos -- and judgments were quick in coming.

Photog, Matt Bernstein, jumped to explain, saying, "I swear people forget that Britney was in prison of her father's design for the past 13 years. She missed the years when we were all terrible at Instagram and used those tacky in-app filters. She's feeling herself. Let her be."

The "Toxic" singer continued that trend on Monday when she posted a string of photos that showed her posing completely nude, with heart emojis and her hands protecting her modesty. In all, she shared three uploads with multiple images.

However, the posts were met with criticism from a number of Spears' followers, with one alluding to her recently dissolved conservatorship as they wrote: "Starting to think those who were in control perhaps should have stayed in control."

Others were alarmed, by the insinuations -- "Anyone else here legitimately concerned?"

Others are calling the criticism hypocritical, pointing to other celebs who have done exactly the same thing ... "So Kim Kardashian can do this but Britney Spears can't? And you wanna call her crazy when she is doing the same thing all the other girls are doing?"

Fact is ... there are lots of celebs who have posed in the buff, including Bella Hadid, Julia Fox, Christina Aguilera, Rihanna and Lizzo.

As for Britney, she's said in the past the nude pics represent her as a free woman and a rebel.

Lisa Ann says the new era of Twitter should take decisive action to rein in the wild west of porn within its chambers -- an ironic take that is certainly not lost on her.

The legendary adult film actress -- who was in the biz for years, but is retired now -- explained her thoughts to a photog in NYC ... this after she came out last week on her podcast to declare her stance on X-rated content that goes unregulated on the bird app.

Essentially ... this all boils down to minors, and the very easy access Twitter gives 'em to see just about anything without much screening or filtering -- something LA wants changed.

Check it out -- she says kids are susceptible to what they're seeing online now more than ever, going on to explain the type of porn that's popular these days is more aggressive and twisted than ever ... and a lot of that stuff is flying around on Twitter for all to see.

This is something Billie Eilish recently alluded to, and Lisa is on the same wavelength as far as limiting access to those who are under 18 ... and while she hasn't reached out to Elon Musk (Twitter's new daddy) just yet, she seems very open to having a sit-down with him.

As for the criticism that she's hypocritical for pushing this -- considering her background -- Lisa Ann has already made it clear ... her past life doesn't define her current ideology.

A man screaming pro-life rhetoric at pro-choice protesters in New York might've looked like he worked at the Fire Department -- but the agency is denying it ... saying, he ain't with us.

You've probably seen this video by now -- it shows a man standing next to a few others on the front steps of the St. Patrick's Old Cathedral in Lower Manhattan ... and arguing with demonstrators upset about the leaked Roe v. Wade opinion, which threatens to overturn it.

It would be no big deal if not for what the guy said -- namely, that the women screaming "our body, our choice" didn't actually have a choice ... and that their bodies weren't theirs.

It's pretty wild, and what this fella is saying is absolutely abhorrent -- going well beyond a civil debate on the matter and just diving straight into misogynistic territory ... which is why people were alarmed when they saw a bunch of FDNY patches and branding on his sweater.

Of course, some thought he might, in fact, be a firefighter in the Big Apple ... and were rightly outraged and demanding answers from the department. Well, they got it -- and the response is ... this man is NOT one of our own.

Denis Shapovalov just went scorched earth at the Italian Open -- the Canadian tennis star told fans in the stands to "shut the f*** up" in a fit of rage ... and the moment was captured on video.

The incident went down during Shapovalov's match against Lorenzo Sonego in the tourney's round of 64 ... when Denis got into an argument with the umpire on the sideline.

Denis was upset over a point penalty he received after crossing the net to show the ump a mark on the court ... and when he approached the guy on the sideline, fans in attendance at the Grand Stand Arena let him hear it with a loud chorus of boos.

In the short clip, Shapovalov turns to the crowd and yells, "Shut the f*** up," before going back to plead his case in front of the supervisor.

The 23-year-old later apologized for his outburst ... saying he understands the ump was just doing his job.

Abortion rights were top of mind for many this past week -- and, for a moment, it seemed to be on the New York Times' mind as well ... because a buzzword was worked into Wordle.

Here's the deal ... some Wordle users on Monday reported that the word of the day turned out to be "fetus," which sparked a lot of outrage and speculation that perhaps the Times had purposely plugged that in to make a point about the recent Roe v Wade news.

As you might imagine ... folks didn't think it was funny, and couldn't quite fathom why the NYT would jam that word in amid a very high-tension time in the country. Obviously, reproductive rights are no laughing matter -- especially when they're at risk of being repealed at the federal level.

Lo and behold, the Times didn't do this to provoke the masses -- the paper came out Monday and clarified what exactly had happened ... and it sounds like a case of pre-loaded 5-letter answers that they weren't able to scrub before some players discovered it.

As editor Everdeen Mason notes, "But because of the current Wordle technology, it can be difficult to change words that have already been loaded into the game.

She adds, "When we discovered last week that this particular word would be featured today, we switched it for as many solvers as possible" ... going to explain that the point of Wordle is to escape and entertain, not to focus on the news. EM also seemed to apologize to users.

Margaret Atwood -- who penned 'The Handmaid's Tale,' inspiring the TV show -- just let everyone know how she feels about banning abortion ... calling it literal enslavement.

The renowned author and poet wrote a brief but powerful op-ed in The Guardian this weekend -- and it's all about the prospect of the Supreme Court overturning Roe v Wade, which was made public last week after a draft opinion leaked to the press.

Her title says it all ... "Enforced childbirth is slavery" -- and she lays out her argument pretty well in the following graphs, likening the would-be decision to what she outlines in her cautionary tale of a novel ... where women who are fertile become prisoners of the state.

Here's just a snippet of Atwood's words ... "Women who cannot make their own decisions about whether or not to have babies are enslaved because the state claims ownership of their bodies and the right to dictate the use to which their bodies must be put."

She goes on to compare the slavery she speaks of to conscription for men -- but notes that even there, guys have a better deal ... as they're afforded free resources for the "service."

MA then asks this ... "If the state is mandating enforced childbirth, why should it not pay for prenatal care, for the birth itself, for postnatal care, and -- for babies who are not sold off to richer families – for the cost of bringing up the child?" Essentially, pay women for having babies, especially if you're going to give them no other option but to do exactly that.

Margaret answers her own question, writing ... "Instead, it just wants to reinforce the usual cheap trick: force women to have babies, and then make them pay. And pay. And pay. As I said, slavery." She goes on to say that having a baby is a gift -- but ceases to be a gift if it's not freely given or received ... which is what would happen by default if abortion is banned.

'SNL' did a really smart cold open Saturday night ... challenging what appears to be the Supreme Court's notion that tradition should stand in the way of change.

It was pretty brilliant ... the host Benedict Cumberbatch, along with Andrew Dismukes, Alex Moffat, Kate McKinnon, Chris Redd and Cecily Strong played characters back in 1235, when the laws were incredibly draconian. The point -- these ideas have no place a thousand years later.

There's a hilarious moment when Cumberbatch says, "It’s just while I was cleaning the hole on the side of the castle where we poop and then it falls through the sky into a hole of human feces, I started to think about abortion. Don’t you think we ought to make a law against that?"

The reply ... "You mean like to know we have against pointy shoes?"

At one point someone asks, "Shouldn't we at least make exceptions in cases of rape or incest? Moffat jumps on that ... "But those are the only kinds of sex."

Then there's a turn where somehow mask-wearing becomes relevant, and even Johnny Depp vs. Amber Heard becomes grist for the group.

Eminem packs just as much of a punch as any heavy metal band out there -- at least that's what the guy who runs the Rock & Roll HOF says ... which isn't going over so well.

Greg Harris -- the CEO of the Hall -- said as much this much this week in an interview with Audacy ... where he discussed the many inductees who are getting enshrined at this year's ceremony -- including, of course, Dolly Parton, Lionel Richie, Carly Simon and Slim Shady, among others.

During his chat, Harris was singing everyone's praises -- including Judas Priest, who are also getting inducted after being snubbed twice before -- but especially for Mr. Mathers ... whose music he dubbed "as hard-hitting and straight-ahead as any metal song."

Harris went to say that Em's going to be the 10th hip-hop artist to be inducted into the Hall -- the first was Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five in '07 -- adding that Slim's been an integral part of the Hall for a while now ... helping induct Run-DMC and LL Cool J.

Indeed, Em has assisted in celebrating hip-hop acts on the big stage ... and he is definitely deserving himself, even in his 1st year of eligibility. Here's the problem, though, at least in some folks' minds -- Harris seems to be downplaying the impact/importance of metal.

Whether Eminem's music actually matches the energy of a traditional metal song/act is up for debate ... but what some die-hards hear in his remarks is disrespect for the genre.

Some argue this is further evidenced in the fact that Judas Priest is only now getting their flowers ... even though they've been eligible for induction for over 20 years now.

Frontman Rob Halford recently shouted out the significance of JP getting in, albeit late, and what it means for metal bands everywhere ... or even legendary hard rock acts in general, several of which were also inducted after years of missing the ballot ... or which have yet to be acknowledged at all, like Motorhead or Iron Maiden for instance.

Meanwhile, it appears -- at least to some, anyway -- that Hall voters are eager to induct certain artists right away ... making it come off more like a popularity contest than anything.

Amber Heard's testimony has been accused of being contrived, lifted and, strangely, drug-laced -- but it seems only 1 of these might be close to true ... and the proof's in the video.

Here's the deal ... AH was on the stand for two days this week, detailing the alleged abuse she claims she suffered at the hands of Johnny Depp. Each day of testimony ran for several hours -- but rabid JD fans picked apart three specific moments that they say are damning.

First, a moment from Thursday's testimony where Amber is describing a time when Johnny was detoxing ... during which, she holds a tissue to her face for an extended period of time -- apparently aware she's being photographed right then and there -- and seemingly poses.

The clip going around on social media felt sorta doctored, but we found it in the raw feed -- and, indeed, Amber does look to hold this pose for what sounds like a camera flash.

People have criticized her for this -- perhaps rightly so -- but even more Twitter warriors have made what we would consider wildly outlandish claims that are far more sinister ... namely, that Amber was allegedly doing bumps of "cocaine" on the witness stand Thursday.

You've probably seen this clip making the rounds too -- it shows Amber blowing/wiping her nose with a handkerchief ... and people believe they see something more nefarious.

We'll be honest ... this claim is absurd on its face, and nothing more than people reaching to connect dots that simply aren't there. Depending on what side you're on in this case, you'll probably see what you want to see ... but there's no smoking gun here whatsoever.

Finally, there's the 'Talented Mr. Ripley' claim ... which boils down to folks alleging that Amber lifted a part of her testimony Wednesday straight from the movie, and straight from Gwyneth Paltrow's character, Marge. As it turns out, that claim was also total BS.

A now-viral side-by-side quote was being circulated that suggested Amber had literally repeated lines from the movie, word for word, but after someone tracked down the actual video ... her real testimony was far from what GP said on film. Once again ... reaching.

Fred Savage's alleged on-set behavior appears to have caught up with him -- the guy was just fired from the reboot of his old TV show ... stemming from how he conducted himself.

The one-time child star and former star of the original sitcom was terminated by ABC Friday ... meaning he won't be able to direct or executive produce the revived series, which is exactly what he was doing before getting booted.

A rep for 20th Television (now under the Disney umbrella) says ... "Recently, we were made aware of allegations of inappropriate conduct by Fred Savage, and as is policy, an investigation was launched. Upon its completion, the decision was made to terminate his employment as an executive producer and director of 'The Wonder Years.'"

Unclear when this investigation started or what the details of the grievances entail -- everyone's learning about this all in one fell swoop, as the allegations themselves had gone unreported until now -- but THR does say there were 3 separate complaints.

The news is fairly shocking, but perhaps not all that surprising ... Savage was at the center of another on-set investigation a few years back during his new show "The Grinder," when he was accused of treating female crew members like crap ... for which he was sued.

Bill Maher delivered a scorching attack on the movement in the U.S. to censor what we say ... and gotta say, it may be his best commentary in a long time.

The "Real Time" host declared his position from the jump -- "Sorting out lies from truth is your job," adding it's ridiculous we treat everyone like "helpless dumb blondes ready to believe everything ... like Donald Trump!"

He makes the point ... people living today aren't special -- as he says, every age is the misinformation age. He harkens back to 1858, when the New York Times worried Americans couldn't handle the transatlantic telegraph because it was "superficial and too fast for the truth."

Go back even further, Bill says, to 1487, when the Pope cautioned against the misuse of the printing press, saying it was the source of pernicious writing -- hmmm, sounds like fake news.

And, then there's radio ... in 1938, some listeners freaked out listening to Orson Welles' "War of the Worlds," believing the Martians invaded New Jersey.

As Bill says, lies are everywhere ... like germs. He says you can't germproof the world, so develop a better bull*** meter.

And, then he makes a brilliant point ... "Sometimes misinformation is history's first draft" -- like the stories that circulated about COVID -- that 50% of those who are unvaccinated become hospitalized when it's less than 1%.

To drive home the point, he notes lots of folks believe in "an imaginary best friend in the sky who they can talk to to help them with their problems." Bill asks if there should be a warning label on that.

He's all for banning things like child porn, calls for insurrection, personal threats, etc, but people should be able to express their opinions even if they are repugnant. And, deciding whether something is true, half-true, a quarter true or false ... well that's our job, not the job of some publisher.

Jack Harlow SZN is officially upon us with the release of his new album "Come Home the Kids Miss You" -- and his label boss, DJ Drama, says Jack's impressing his peers as much as fans.

The project touts all-legend features -- Drake, Lil Wayne, Pharrell and Justin Timberlake -- and even a hidden one from Snoop Dogg on the song "Young Harleezy."

Generation Now's honcho was on "TMZ Hip Hop" this week to set the record straight about any misconceptions the "First Class" rapper is mooching off the culture he loves so dearly.

After Drama discovered Jack in 2018, he helped Jack get to this point, and maintains good music and "bodies of work" -- not race-baiting or gimmicks -- will prove the young emcee's value to the game.

Drama himself has grad student level skillz in both the music biz and street hip hop culture. His legendary Gangsta Grillz series was just culminated to fit Tyler, The Creator's "Call Me If You Get Lost" album ... which won the Best Rap Album Grammy this year.

He's also overseeing the budding careers of GN artists Lil Uzi Vert and Seddy Hendrinx.

Harlow's "First Class" shooting to the top of the Billboard Hot 100 reignited the ol' white rappers debate online, and on the "TMZ Hip Hop" set, but DJ Drama isn't pressed. He's certain Jack will earn the respect of doubters everywhere.

Shawne Merriman tells TMZ Sports he believes Antonio Brown did make some "valid points" when he went off on a rant against Colin Kaepernick in a recent interview.

If you missed it, Brown called the ex-49ers star a "trash" QB in a sitdown with "Cigar Talk." He also said he believed the 34-year-old sold out when he settled his lawsuit with the NFL. And, he questioned just how big of an impact Colin was really having in the community.

Merriman clearly doesn't believe all of the above is true ... but he said on Friday there were some things he did agree on with Brown.

"He makes some valid points about Colin Kaepernick, saying that, you know, he took the money from the NFL. The settlement. The Nike commercials -- all these things," Merriman said.

"Well, I think a lot of people think that way about all the other stuff that Colin Kaepernick has going on, and his opportunities that he's had to get back in the NFL, and just hasn't."

Merriman says he believes if Brown hadn't already become such a polarizing figure -- he thinks more people would be agreeing with him.

"We get the message," Merriman said, "but people aren't trying to listen to the messenger."

There was at least one NFL star who agreed with Brown fully ... Saints wideout Michael Thomas tweeted Friday afternoon, "he isn’t wrong wrong lol."

F1 superstar Lewis Hamilton is taking a stand against FIA's ban on jewelry during races ... by wearing multiple necklaces, rings, earrings AND watches at his press conference Friday in Miami.

The Mercedes champ has been outspoken against the association's recent crackdown on the accessories drivers are allowed to wear during races ... claiming there are much bigger issues to focus on.

37-year-old Hamilton doubled down on his position when speaking with media members ... saying he feels like it's a "step backwards" as the sport looks to grow.

"This is such a small thing," Hamilton said. "I've been in this sport for 16 years. I've been wearing jewelry for 16 years. In the car, I only have my earrings and my nose ring, which I can't remove."

"It seems unnecessary for us to get into this spat," he added. "So, I'll try to communicate and work with (FIA president) Mohammed (bin Sulayem). I think I'm here to be an ally of the sport, of Mohammed, and Formula 1, and I think we got bigger fish to fry, bigger things to do, more impact to have."

"So, I think that's where the focus should be."

Hamilton says his jewelry is not magnetic and there are no safety concerns while racing ... but if he's not allowed to compete over the ban, he is content with hanging out in South Beach and letting the backup driver take his spot.