Controversial S#!T

50 Cent's infamous Instagram trolling is a fully calculated strategy ... so says 'Power Book 2: Ghost' star Gianni Paolo, who broke down the boss man's online tactics on the latest episode of TMZ's 'Verified' Podcast.

Gianni has the ultimate follow-your-dreams story ... which includes ditching a potential professional hockey career to take his shot at making it as an actor.

Smart move that landed him into 50's expansive 'Power' universe (which may or may not live on Starz in the near future).

When asked about 50's IG trolling (which tends to toe every line imaginable), Gianni says he can usually see the promotional storm coming as soon as Fiddy's social media antics begin.

Call it "convenient trolling," if you will, but between 4 'Power' series and the critically acclaimed 'B.M.F.' (which will now feature Mo'Nique) -- 50 knows how to generate an audience.

Gianni admits working on 'Ghost' dominates most of his day and also spilled on earning Mary J. Blige's respect ... and a mortifying first and second meeting with Method Man.

Foot meet mouth.

Golf legend Greg Norman, when confronted about the heinous murder and dismemberment of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018 ... said, "we've all made mistakes.".

Norman, a 2x majors winner who spent over 300 weeks as the world's number 1 ranked player in the '80s and '90s, is the CEO of LIV Golf, the new Saudi Arabian-backed golf organization.

GN met with reporters at media day this week and was asked about the killing of the Washington Post journalist at the Saudi Embassy in Istanbul, Turkey.

“Everybody has owned up to it, right? It has been spoken about, from what I’ve read, going on what you guys reported," the 67-year-old said.

"Take ownership, no matter what it is. Look, we’ve all made mistakes and you just want to learn from those mistakes and how you can correct them going forward.”

Of course, there was immediate backlash to the comments ... because that "mistake" was the brutal killing of an innocent man.

Norman also attempted to highlight the good things happening in the middle eastern country.

“This whole thing about Saudi Arabia and Khashoggi and human rights, talk about it, but also talk about the good the country is doing to change its culture," Norman said.

"There’s not many countries that can stand up and be proud of that. They can’t be proud of their past — there’s a lot of countries in this world that have a cross to bear too — but they are looking after the younger generation.”

Selma Blair has struggled her whole life, with pain, alcoholism and now fighting through a battle with MS ... all topics covered in her new memoir.

Blair sat down with Savannah Guthrie Wednesday for an extremely candid interview with "Today." The actor's memoir, 'Mean Baby' talks about her entire life, Blair told Guthrie, "My first [time] drunk [was] when I was 7. I had my first drinks much younger."

Blair says even though she was young, she felt alcohol was a comfort ... and wonders if the physical pains she would feel throughout her life were early signs of MS.

According to "Today," Blair writes in her memoir, "Doctors thought I had leukemia. I didn't, but it was a constant high fever. … The ailments as a kid connected. I do know for sure I had it by the age of 23. It was definitely there for so long.”

The good news ... Blair tells Savannah she hasn't had a drink since a scary incident in 2016 when she lost consciousness on a plane with her 4-year-old son. She's also undergone chemotherapy and a stem cell transplant in an effort to help manage her MS.

Sharon Osbourne is an anti-censorship purist ... because she doesn't want anyone banned from Twitter, and that includes Donald Trump and the Taliban.

We caught up with Sharon Tuesday in Bev Hills outside Neiman Marcus, and she was all about Elon Musk, declaring her love for the rocketman, and amplifying his position that Twitter should be open to all, even if the messaging is abhorrent. The point ... that vibrant discourse is a better way of getting at the truth than censorship.

Sharon's position regarding the Taliban is interesting ... most folks who support free and open Twitter still want to carve out exceptions for calls to violence. The Taliban seems to fall in that category, and there's certainly a good argument that can be made ... Donald Trump may not explicitly call for violence, but the subtext in some of his messages certainly seems to invite it.

The Phoenix Suns are making sure to show support for Brittney Griner for the remainder of their playoff run -- by putting a decal on their court in honor of the WNBA superstar as she remains detained in Russia.

As we previously reported, the Phoenix Mercury center has been detained since February ... after she was accused of having hash oil in her luggage while going through airport security.

Sports, entertainment and political figures have been calling for her release ever since ... with President Joe Biden's administration even claiming Griner is being wrongfully detained in hopes of bringing her home sooner.

The Suns revealed the "BG42" decal ahead of their game against the Dallas Mavericks on Tuesday ... saying, "One family. #WeAreBG."

"Honoring Brittney Griner on our court for the remainder of the playoffs. 💜🧡"

The decal is the same one the WNBA debuted recently ... with commissioner Cathy Engelbert promising to keep "Brittney at the forefront of what we do through the game of basketball and in the community."

"We continue to work on bringing Brittney home," Englebert added, "and are appreciative of the support the community has shown BG and her family during this extraordinarily challenging time."

Members of the Delaware State University women's lacrosse team claim they were racially profiled by police during a traffic stop last month ... but law enforcement is insisting that's simply not the case.

The HBCU's lacrosse team was traveling back to campus after a game in Florida on April 20 ... when their bus was pulled over for a minor traffic violation.

The school says the belongings of the student-athletes -- including suitcases located in the luggage racks beneath the bus -- were searched by police and drug-sniffing dogs.

Video footage of the police interaction with everyone on the bus was uploaded to a YouTube channel by Sydney Anderson, a player on the DSU squad.

In addition to the video, Anderson wrote a lengthy piece for the Hornet Newspaper, detailing what she describes as a traumatic experience, explaining she believes cops only did the thorough search because they were black.

DSU's lacrosse coach Pamella Jenkins told Andscape she felt "angry" and "helpless" during the traffic stop because she sees her players as her own children and wants to protect them.

DSU President Tony Allen said in a statement that nothing illegal was discovered during the officers' search ... and that all of the school's coaches and student-athletes comported themselves with dignity throughout a trying and humiliating process.

"I am proud of our student-athletes, their coaches, the athletic department, the leadership and the reporters and staff of the school newspaper. Our mission is a critical one and as much a part of the American story as any."

"Again, I say. We shall not be moved."

Sheriff William Bowman of the Liberty County Police force held a press conference on Tuesday ... where he addressed the incident.

The bus, according to the sheriff, was pulled over for driving in the left lane on the highway ... when any bus or motor coach must drive in the 2 far right lanes.

As for the thorough search, Sherriff Bowman says deputies stopped a bus earlier that day and located contraband on board ... and contends the stop of DSU's bus was not racially motivated based on the information he has available to him.

Blac Chyna thinks the deck was stacked against her in her fierce legal battle with the Kardashians ... she accuses the judge of harboring an extreme bias.

According to new legal docs, obtained by TMZ, Chyna is accusing Judge Gregory W. Alarcon of showing an "undeniably hostile and extremely biased" attitude against her and her attorney.

Chyna claims the judge's alleged bias worked against her ... specifically in regards to the judge's jury instructions Chyna thinks led to the eventual verdict, which went in the Kardashian's favor.

Remember ... the judge tossed Blac Chyna's mom, Tokyo Toni, outta the courtroom for trashing Kris Jenner and her kids, and TT later appeared to threaten the judge, though she claims it was actually aimed at Kris and not the judge.

Donald Trump might be back in the Twittersphere soon enough -- that is, if Elon Musk's mega deal to buy Twitter closes ... 'cause the guys says 45's ban was BS.

The Tesla chief -- and soon-to-be new Twitter owner -- signaled DT might be back on the bird app during a virtual chat at a car summit ... saying he would reverse the permanent ban if the decision was up to him, and it very well could be in a matter of weeks.

EM called the move a "morally bad decision" in the first place, going on to say he saw it as "foolish in the extreme."

His rationale is interesting ... Elon essentially argued that Trump should be allowed to exist in the de facto town square, rather than allowing him and/or his loyal followers to foment/fester elsewhere -- which is a bit of a different POV than his free speech one.

Elon says, "I think that was a mistake because it alienated a large part of the country and did not ultimately result in Donald Trump not having a voice. So I think this may end up being frankly worse than having a single forum where everyone can debate."

You'll recall ... Twitter gave Trump the boot for good in January 2021, right after the Capitol insurrection, because they claimed his tweets had the potential to incite further violence.

'Percy Jackson' author Rick Riordan is slamming folks who are outraged that a Black actress is playing a character described in the books as white ... calling the backlash racist.

Leah Jeffries was recently cast for the role of Annabeth Chase in the upcoming Disney+ series "Percy Jackson & the Olympians" ... with some fans expressing outrage online because Leah doesn't look the way Rick originally described.

Rick fired back Tuesday in a lengthy blog post directed at those who have a problem with the casting choice ... saying it's a shame he even has to address the issue, because he says the overwhelming response has been positive.

RR says anyone who has an issue with Leah's casting should take it up with him ... and he says negative comments being directed at her online are out of line and need to stop ASAP.

In the movie adaptions of Rick's book, Annabeth is played by white actress Alexandra Daddario.

From the outset of casting for the Disney+ series, Rick says he made it clear he was looking for the best actors to bring to life the personalities of his OG book characters, and physical appearance was secondary.

After a yearlong process, Rick says Leah proved to embody Annabeth Chase ... and he says people are just being racist when they express disappointment, anger and frustration that Leah doesn't look the way they imagined Annabeth.

Rick says the focus on Leah's skin color overlooks her acting chops ... and he says people are judging her based on race without even seeing her play the part.

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.