Controversial S#!T

Shannon Sharpe is going off on all the trolls hating on Bronny James for his white prom date ... telling TMZ Sports the bashing of LeBron James' son is "utterly ridiculous."

Bronny just had his prom earlier this month -- and after he took a white classmate to the event ... racist haters came out and left nasty comments all over the photos on social media.

Sharpe told us out at LAX this past week that the attacks were BS ... saying, "People would rather you be miserable with someone your own race than you be in love with someone of a different race."

"It is so utterly ridiculous," he continued. "People need to get a life."

The Pro Football Hall of Famer's advice for Bronny was simply to ignore the noise -- and do whatever he wants to do to make him happy.

"Bronny can't live his life for someone else," Sharpe said. "He has to live for him. And, far too many people live their life for other people."

Ex-NFL star Robert Griffin III made similar comments last week ... saying in a video on his Instagram page, "Leave these kids alone."

LeBron, meanwhile, has still not commented publicly on the backlash ... though he did write a note about his daughter, Zhuri, on one of the now-viral pics from the evening.

Cassandra Freeman, famous for playing Aunt Viv on "Bel-Air," doesn't want to see any Juneteenth ice cream at "the cookout" ... and says Walmart's latest is just plain wrong.

We got Cassandra Monday at LAX and asked her about Walmart's "Celebration Edition Juneteenth Ice Cream" ... which is pissing off the very community it's intending to reach or honor.

Cassandra's got an instant reaction to the tone-deaf dessert ... and it's not good. She's also left wondering what'll be next on Walmart's ice cream shelves, joking about what other historical events can be made into offensive sweets.

As we reported ... Walmart is getting tons of backlash for its newest flavor, a mix of red velvet and cheesecake ice cream along with this message on the package, "Share and celebrate African-American culture, emancipation and enduring hope."

Cassandra isn't surprised it's a Walmart idea, and tells us why Ben and Jerry's would never make the same mistake.

She also blasts the retail giant for its corporate greed and shames whoever greenlit the product for not reading their history books.

Josh Donaldson was hit with a 1-game ban on Monday ... after the Yankees star made a Jackie Robinson reference toward Tim Anderson during a game.

The incident happened during New York's matchup with the White Sox on Saturday ... when JD said, "what's up, Jackie?" to Anderson, who is Black.

Sox manager Tony La Russa called the jab "racist," but Donaldson later claimed he was referring to a 2019 Sports Illustrated article, in which Anderson said he felt like "today's Jackie Robinson" ... and claimed he's joked with Anderson about it in the past.

Anderson was clearly pissed over JD's comment ... saying it was uncalled for and he'd "never sleep this off."

As a result of Donaldson's words, he's now been suspended one game ... which he'll appeal.

MLB's senior VP for on-field operations Michael Hill released a statement on the decision ... saying, "MLB has completed the process of speaking to the individuals involved in this incident. There is no dispute over what was said on the field."

"Regardless of Mr. Donaldson's intent, the comment he directed toward Mr. Anderson was disrespectful and in poor judgment, particularly when viewed in the context of their prior interactions."

Travis Scott is being sued over another incident at a concert ... he's being blamed for inciting a stampede during one of his performances at Rolling Loud.

According to the lawsuit, obtained by TMZ, police told Travis to stop his 2019 gig at Rolling Loud in Miami because the crowd was getting out of control, but Travis ignored cops and instead riled up his fans even more.

A woman who says she was injured at the concert, Marchelle Love, is suing Travis and others ... claiming multiple stampedes broke out during Travis' set, resulting in folks in the crowd suffocating, losing consciousness, fighting, and being trampled.

Love claims Travis was aware and could even see people were being hurt in the stampede and did nothing to stop it. She says he ignored multiple warnings from security and police about toning down his performance, leading to a stampede where her leg was shattered in the scrum.

In the docs, she says Travis should have known better ... not only because there were other stampedes at Rolling Loud the night before, but also because his shows had a history of getting out of hand.

As you know ... Travis is also facing a ton of lawsuits for the deadly Astroworld festival, where 10 people died.

We reached out to Travis' camp ... so far no word back.

Deshaun Watson's attorney says the NFL has concluded its interviews with the Browns star over allegations that he was sexually inappropriate with female massage therapists -- and he's now anticipating a league ruling in the case to come down sometime this summer.

Rusty Hardin said on the "Between The Lines: A Podcast About Sports and the Law" that Watson spoke with NFL investigators for three days this week over the masseuses' claims.

Hardin explained nothing was off-limits during the talks -- and he said he believed with the interviews now in the rearview mirror, a potential NFL punishment for Watson could be figured out in a matter of weeks.

"I don't have a deadline," Hardin said. "I'd suspect the NFL wants to conclude its investigation sometime this summer. Whether that is June or whether that's August or July, I have no idea. That's their schedule."

Hardin said he believed there are still more people the NFL wants to question before it makes its final ruling.

Hardin reiterated on the podcast that he firmly believes his client was not inappropriate with any of his 22 accusers ... adding he still believes any sexual conduct his client had with the women was consensual.

Travis Barker did NOT hurl a homophobic slur when he was getting pranked on Ashton Kutcher's old MTV show ... so says the actor from a resurfaced clip that's stirring up controversy.

Here's the deal ... Kourtney Kardashian's husband is getting slammed online by folks who claim he used the f-word in an old clip from "Punk'd."

In the resurfaced clip, Travis is having dinner with Shanna Moakler when an actor posing as a waiter comes to the table and starts flirting with her, pretending they used to date.

Travis gets pissed and tells the server, "Yeah, she usually dates (bleep)" ... and it sets off a heated confrontation, with the waiter saying he didn't appreciate the term.

There's online speculation the MTV show bleeped out a slur ... but the actor playing the waiter in the episode, Ahmed Ahmed, tells us that's not the case. Instead, he says Travis exclaimed, "f***ing a**holes."

Ahmed says the Blink-182 drummer was totally cool once Ashton came out and let him know he was being pranked.

For those who might not buy Ahmed's story ... he doubts Travis would have signed the release forms allowing the clip to air on TV if he had actually said what people are accusing him of saying.

Chris Jericho says his niece was seen on video being brutally punched and kicked in the face last week ... and now, the wrestling superstar is pleading for officials to do something about it.

The AEW talent explained the situation on his Twitter page on Sunday night ... saying his niece has been "incessantly bullied" at her middle school in Florida "for months."

Jericho says the bullying took a violent turn just a few days ago ... when she was beaten up in a street.

In the clip Jericho shared to his social media, you can see a girl being socked in the face multiple times -- before she was continuously kicked and punched while bystanders looked on.

Jericho says despite his family's efforts to get officials involved, "nobody did anything to help" -- and he pleaded with school reps to "take action."

He added in a message to TMZ Sports that his niece is "physically ok. But, mentally she’s hurting."

"She's scared to go to school," the 51-year-old wrestler said. "This could've been avoided as the family approached the school a few times prior but nothing was done."

"We need to spread awareness so that the schools do a better job of protecting our kid's mental health and safety. ALL kids. Not just the ones with famous uncles."

We reached out to cops for comment, but they told us they have not been made aware of the situation.

The Colorado Avalanche say they are working with police ... after one of their star players, Nazem Kadri, allegedly received racist messages and threats following a controversial play on the ice this weekend.

Kadri was involved in a collision with St. Louis Blues goalie Jordan Binnington in Game 3 of their playoff series on Saturday.

The on-ice clash ended up injuring Binnington and will force the goalie to miss the rest of the series against the Avs.

A short time after the play, hockey player Akim Aliu -- who's a part of the Hockey Diversity Alliance with Kadri -- claimed the Colorado center, who's Muslim, told him he had been the subject of "so many racist attacks and threats since last night."

Aliu claimed the threats were so bad, police were involved ... and in a statement on Sunday, the Avs confirmed they have been in contact with cops over it all.

"The Avalanche organization is aware of threats made toward Nazem Kadri and is working with local law enforcement to investigate," the team said.

Aliu added, "Racist attacks like this have no place in hockey and should be investigated and reported on."

Kadri had said after the game there was no intent to hurt Binnington, claiming "their defenseman kind of collided with me and pushed me into him. So, had that not been the case, I don't think I would have hit him at all."

Kadri added that he believed Binnington threw a water bottle at him while he was doing a postgame interview.

The NHL has not handed down punishment for any player involved in the play.

Peng Shuai is being recognized for courageously opening up on the alleged sexual assault she experienced at the hands of a powerful Chinese official -- the tennis star was named to Time's list of most influential people of 2022.

The former doubles champ disappeared from the public eye after claiming former Vice Premier Zhang Gaoli forced her to have sex with him -- and while she later denied the allegations, many believe the retraction was forced by the Chinese government.

The WTA pulled events from China as a result of Shuai's allegations and disappearance ... and a worldwide call for Shuai's safety ensued.

Shuai was recognized by Lu Pin, a feminist activist and writer, in the outlet's spotlight ... who said, "With one lengthy post on Chinese social media site Weibo, tennis star Peng Shuai set off a chain reaction of events that profoundly changed global sports."

The man accused of tackling Dave Chappelle -- and who seems to be copping to it -- says he did what he did because he was "triggered" by DC's LGBT jokes ... which is an apparent change of tune.

23-year-old Isaiah Lee did an interview with the New York Post, and explained his reasoning for hopping up on the stage and attacking the comedian -- and wouldn't you know it ... he says he was, in fact, offended by Dave's material, and wanted him to know about it.

Lee is quoted as saying, "I identify as bisexual … and I wanted him to know what he said was triggering." He adds, "I wanted him to know that next time, he should consider first running his material by people it could affect."

Dave is reported to have addressed his transgender controversy that night before Lee allegedly rushed the stage -- talking about how he didn't have a problem with trans people, until now ... when he says they took his 'Closer' content out of context and warped it.

Here's another element that apparently sent Lee over the edge ... jokes that Dave apparently made about homelessness, which Lee says personally hurt him -- as he himself had experienced it at a young age.

Lee says, "I’m also a single dad and my son is five. It’s a struggle and I wanted Dave Chappelle to know it’s not a joke." Plus, jokes earlier in the night (made by an opener, it seems) talking pedophilia rocked Lee as well. He says he was sexually abused as a minor.

On his gruesome injuries, Lee said ... "They spat on me and twisted me as if on purpose." He also acknowledged having the fake-gun-turned knife on him that night, adding Chappelle asked why he did it. Lee says ... "I told him my mother and grandmother, who fought for his civil rights to be able to speak, would be upset at the things he said."

All of this is a new and different twist on Lee's motives. As we reported, Chappelle has said Lee told him backstage -- before he was arrested -- that he'd rushed onstage to draw attention to his grandmother's plight in a gentrified neighborhood in Brooklyn.

Laura Dern was just a 20-something in 'Jurassic Park' -- opposite a then-40-something Sam Neill -- and the Internet can't believe it ... although we aren't sure if that's a good thing. 🤔

The actress dropped this bomb in a new interview with the Sunday Times, claiming she was just 23 when she starred in the original 'JP' back in 1993 ... and the age difference with her costar at the time was noted by the man himself, in a joking manner.

Neill, who did the interview with Dern apparently, is quoted as blurting out how much older he is/was than LD, saying ... "I am 20 years older than Laura! Which at the time was a completely appropriate age difference for a leading man and lady!"

Dern concurs, explaining, "Well, it felt completely appropriate to fall in love with Sam Neill. And, it was only now, when we returned in a moment of cultural awareness about the patriarchy, that I was, like, ‘Wow! We’re not the same age?'"

People latched on to this for a couple reasons ... one, Dern's quote is being interpreted by some as sarcastic and sort of a commentary on the idea that a woman of Sam's age (at the time) couldn't or wouldn't be cast -- apparently touching on double standards in the biz.

Of course, Laura herself didn't say this exactly ... and that argument doesn't hold water next to the source material (the book) and considering Drs. Grant and Sattler are described as being in their 40s and late 20s, respectively. Her character was always meant to be younger.

More importantly, the 23-year-old remark comes as news to many that Dern was that young in the film. As many have noted, she looks significantly older -- at least in her mid-30s.

The new Chip and Dale movie finds an unlikely villain in adult Peter Pan -- an inside nod to the real-life tragedy of the actor who voiced him years ago ... which has pissed off fans.

BTW, spoilers are ahead ... so beware. Anyway, here's what's going on -- everyone's buzzing about the 'Rescue Rangers' flick on Disney+, which has been viewed by many as a spiritual sequel to 'Who Framed Roger Rabbit?' ... namely, in the fact that toons and humans unite.

There's tons of cameos -- most of which are very self-aware and "meta" -- but one, in particular, has gotten backlash ... the boy who never grows up turns out to be the big bad.

Pan describes why he turned evil to the main characters at one point, describing how the studio kicked him to the curb as he started to age and how he grew jaded. The disturbing thing -- to many, at least -- is that this plot accurately reflects Bobby Driscoll's own downfall.

If you're unfamiliar, BD was a child star working with Disney a lot back in the '40/'50s -- he even played Peter in the classic animated hit, and is said to have served as the inspiration behind Pan's look -- but eventually parted ways with the studio and died young after falling into drugs and homelessness. He was even buried in a pauper's grave, unidentified.

Rumor has it ... Bobby himself was allegedly canned by Disney as soon as he hit puberty and was no longer desirable. At least that's the urban legend ... something Disney themselves seem to be alluding to and/or poking fun at with adult Pan in this new movie.

Therein lies the controversy -- people think it's mad disrespectful to dip into Driscoll's story -- either intentionally or not -- for a few laughs and punchlines in this Mouse House movie.

While you could argue that this is Disney making fun of/criticizing their own alleged history when it comes to this dark lore ... others feel it's unwarranted territory to make a point, especially since Driscoll may have, in fact, spiraled as a result of how Disney treated him.

Aside from this seemingly cringeworthy reference, people are saying 'Rescue Rangers' is actually pretty damn good ... and a burst of nostalgia we haven't seen in a while.

John Mulaney is usually beloved by all, but right now -- he's getting slammed big time ... all because he let Dave Chappelle open for him, and the guy told "anti-trans" jokes.

Here's the deal ... John had a comedy show Friday night in Columbus, OH -- where phones were locked up in a pouch so no one could record -- and according to folks who flocked to social media afterward, DC was a surprise guest who did a set before John came out.

A lot of these people say they felt ambushed by Dave's presence, especially since he allegedly went on to tell what they characterize as transphobic/homophobic jokes.

The argument is that these paying customers came out to see JM -- not Dave -- and many of them are either part of the LGBT crowd, or consider themselves allies ... going on to say they never would've purchased tickets if they'd known Chappelle was going to show up.

Of course, this all dates back to the controversy over his Netflix special, "The Closer," which some have said is transphobic -- despite DC denying that, and the streamer sticking by him.

As for what exactly was said that's transphobic (in these users' minds) ... you'd be hard-pressed to find anyone who actually detailed the crack(s), but someone finally did. The supposedly harmful joke was about the stage crasher and the gun/knife he had on him.

Dave apparently said something to the effect of ... it was a knife that identified as a gun, which some took as an allusion to gender fluidity -- and sure, that's a fair assessment.

He moved on from that -- this after getting laughs, it seems -- and then made a joke about a couple of audience members he speculated might be gay ... adding, not that there's anything wrong with that. Apparently, that's about all that was said ... but it's got people up in arms.

We'll say this ... Dave does seem to be obsessed with joking about trans topics -- he did so during his Hollywood Bowl sets a few weeks ago ... and even said something about the alleged attacker, Isaiah Lee, joking that it was a "trans man" after he was tackled.

Viola Davis says that even at her status in Hollywood, racism persists on a regular basis for her ... especially from one man who apparently referred to her as his hired help.

The actress -- who's already won an Oscar, among other accolades -- did an interview with Variety at the Cannes Film Festival about Women in Motion ... and she expressed the notion that despite her high level in the biz, there are certain barriers she can't seem to get over.

One of those barriers is getting certain scripts to be written with dark-skinned Black women as the lead -- like a mid-aged darker Black woman in her '50s going through a sexual awakening, she explains -- while suggesting Hollywood still very much digs into stereotypes and "fits" when it comes to an actor's appearance. She's alluding to colorism here, BTW.

But, the more shocking anecdote she tells in the same breath is about a longtime director she's known and been friends with accidentally calling her "Louise" ... his maid's name.

Now, Viola did clarify that this happened relatively early in her career -- when she was about 30, she says -- but still feels those types of "microaggressions" happen all the time.

Her larger point, of course, is Black actors simply aren't given that great of material to work with movie-wise to be able to church out Oscar-worthy performances like their white counterparts ... unless they're roles that play into stereotypes and/or formulaic stories.

Nancy Pelosi won't be receiving the body of Christ anytime soon -- at least not her in hometown -- as one of the holy shot-callers there says it's a no-go ... all over abortion.

Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone -- who's a major decision-maker for all things Roman Catholic in and around San Francisco -- threw down the hammer on the House Speaker this week ... saying she's banned from receiving Communion anywhere in town, on his orders.

His rationale ... Pelosi's continued support of abortion is a grave sin under Catholic law, and because she continues to double down and get more "extreme" in her stance, Cordileone says he has no choice but to nix her from the sacred sacrament -- which is a big deal.

For those who practice, receiving Communion is a highlight of going to church ... as it represents Jesus' actual body, and eating it translates to one becoming one with JC.

Cordileone goes in hard against her, writing ... "I have determined that the point has come in which I must make a public declaration that she is not to be admitted to Holy Communion unless and until she publicly repudiate her support for abortion "rights" and confess and receive absolution for her cooperation in this evil in the sacrament of Penance."

He adds, "I have accordingly sent her a Notification to this effect, which I have now made public." Unless Catholic priests go rogue, they have to uphold his rule -- the Catholic church adheres to the hierarchy quite strictly, and hardly anyone gets out of line with this stuff.

Johnny Depp is getting support from what some might think is an unlikely group, but maybe not -- an org protecting abused women and children.

The group, Mission NGO, is Italian-based, and fronted by former Miss Italy Valeria Altobelli. She expressed "compassion" for Johnny in the wake of his trial with ex-wife Amber Heard.

Altobelli said, "In deep respect of the victims of domestic abuses that we have to affirm for intellectual honesty are, generally, WOMEN, we feel to express, as women, as mothers, as free thinkers, our compassion for Johnny Depp in this bad page of his personal history."

NGO is not alone ... public sentiment seems to be clearly on Johnny's side, which by clearly means lots of people -- maybe most -- don't believe Amber's claims of abuse at the hands of Johnny.

As we reported, the only uncontested incident of abuse was at the hands of Amber -- she admitted it on an audiotape that the jury heard.