Controversial S#!T

Brittney Griner's wife is urging Joe Biden to get more involved in the WNBA star's case in Russia ... hoping that'll ultimately help bring home the love of her life.

Cherelle Griner made the plea to the President during a sitdown interview with Robin Roberts on "Good Morning America" this week ... explaining she believes Biden could be the key to getting Brittney back on U.S. soil.

"I just keep hearing that he has the power," Cherelle said of Biden. "She's a political pawn -- so, if they're holding her because they want you to do something, then I want you to do it."

Brittney has been detained in Russia since mid-February ... after authorities claimed they found hash oil in her luggage.

Cherelle told Roberts she initially found out about it all through a panicked, early-hours text message from Brittney.

"She started texting me around 2 AM that morning," Cherelle said. "'Babe! Babe! Babe! Wake up! They have me in this room, I don't know what's going on.'"

Cherelle said Brittney told her the authorities were taking her phone and not to text anymore -- and she said outside of written letters, she has not been able to speak to Brittney since.

Cherelle said she has been in contact with Secretary of State Antony Blinken about ways they can bring home Brittney ... but she clearly feels more can be done by the U.S. government.

"I was grateful for their call," she said of the talk with Blinken. "You say she's top priority, but I want to see it. And I feel like to see it, would be me seeing BG on US soil."

Cherelle added being without Brittney -- who's expected to remain in custody in Russia until at least her next court hearing in June -- has been difficult ... and she even broke down in tears during the interview with Roberts.

She did explain, however, that Brittney has told her to remain strong.

A nightmare is unfolding in Texas as another mass shooting is being reported -- this time at an elementary -- where at least 14 children and one teacher have been killed.

Reports out of Uvalde, Texas say a gunman first opened fire near Robb Elementary School before running inside the building. Once inside, he allegedly barricaded himself inside a classroom where the shooting continued.

At this time, Governor Abbott says 14 children and one teacher are dead.

It appears the last day of the school year for students in the district was Thursday, Robb Elementary has a student population of about 500 students.

The elementary school mass shooting comes just 10 days after 10 people were killed and 3 other people were injured when an 18-year-old opened fire. Gendron's attack was racially motivated, declaring himself a white supremacist and carrying a Bushmaster XM-15 rifle with "n*****" and other racist references written in sharpie on the gun.

It's currently unclear who the shooter at Robb Elementary is, but they're reportedly dead as well.

Mark Munoz -- a former UFC fighter who beat Demian Maia in 2011 -- has been placed on administrative leave from his high school wrestling coach job ... after he let quarreling students box each other, TMZ Sports has learned.

Munoz accepted a job to be the H.S. wrestling coach at Fairmont Private Schools in Anaheim, Calif. back in Sept. 2020 -- but we're told things at the gig went awry just recently.

According to sources close to Munoz, two students got into an argument on the playground ... and then went to Munoz -- who we're told was not made aware of the tiff -- to ask if they could put on boxing gloves and settle things.

The 44-year-old, per our sources, allowed the scrap to happen -- but we're told the ex-UFC fighter believed the impromptu boxing match was more jovial than violent.

We're told, however, one of the boys' parents was outraged about the scrap -- and went to administration over it all.

A school spokesperson declined to get into the specifics of the allegations against Munoz, but did confirm the coach has been placed on administrative leave through the end of this school year and will not have his contract picked up once it ends.

"[He] will not be returning to campus," the spokesperson said.

The school had previously been thrilled to add Munoz to its staff -- saying in a statement following his hiring that he has a resume that "reads like a 'Who's Who' in the sport."

An Indiana Pastor attempted to come clean in church about adultery he'd committed 20 years ago, only to have the congregation turn on him when the woman called him out -- revealing she was just 16 at the time of their encounters.

Pastor John Lowe of New Life Christian Church in Warsaw, IN stood in front of his church Sunday to reveal he was stepping down after confessing to cheating on his wife with one other person many years ago. Lowe was met with forgiveness and applause ... but then a woman and her husband walked up to the altar and addressed the congregation.

The woman revealed she was the one Lowe cheated with, but claims she was just 16 at the time when Lowe had sex with her on his church office floor, taking her virginity.

The age of consent in Indiana is 16.

The stunned congregation looked on as the woman continued, saying the affair went on for 9 years and pleading for Pastor Lowe to tell the truth.

Once the woman and her husband left the stage -- people in the audience began to shout at Lowe, to tell the truth -- and he ultimately fesses up, saying the woman was, in fact, only 16 when he had an affair with her.

Alec Baldwin is weighing in on workplace safety -- not on a film set -- but at the airport, where a brutal beatdown occurred between a passenger and a United Airlines employee.

The video, which went viral Monday, shows former NFLer, Brendan Langley, lay the employee out with a nasty right hook. Langley was later arrested for simple assault and the employee was hospitalized and later terminated.

Upon closer look, it does appear the United employee was first to make physical contact with the passenger ... as shown in the first second of the video.

However, Baldwin apparently sees things differently. According to The Shaderoom, Baldwin left a comment on Instagram about the video, saying, "The guy working at the airport is the victim. He came to work to do a job. The other guy, with his big mouth, is guilty of workplace abuse, where people come to work with an expectation of safety, even civility. This a**hole who hit this guy should be put on a no fly list."

It's interesting ... Baldwin's movie, "Rust" has been called out for work safety issues by the New Mexico Environment Dept.'s Occupational Health and Safety Bureau. As you know ... cinematographer Halyna Hutchins was accidentally shot and killed on the set.

Welp, here's the latest entry to the Tone-Deaf Marketing Hall of Fame (there really should be one by now) ... Walmart's Juneteenth Ice Cream is MOA -- melting on arrival -- with critics, as one might expect.

As soon as the retail giant started putting the "Celebration Edition" on its freezer shelves ... the Twitter mob sounded off, calling the idea "garbage," and worse. The pints contain swirled red velvet and cheesecake ice cream flavors ... and included the message, "Share and celebrate African-American culture, emancipation and enduring hope."

Yes, all positives, but also ... exploitive for capitalism's sake??? That's the tone of the backlash against Walmart ahead of the new federal holiday -- June 19th will mark the 2nd year it's recognized -- which commemorates the day the last enslaved Americans got the news President Lincoln had abolished slavery.

Walmart is also launching a similar "celebration edition" for Pride Month, which is also coming up in June. That flavor is white chocolate ice cream with brownies and cherries.

Depending on your viewpoint ... that's either equal opportunity, or equally offensive.

Soccer star Kurt Zouma has pleaded guilty to charges he attacked at least one of his cats in an abhorrent act back in February -- admitting in court on Tuesday that he did kick and slap at least one of the pets.

Zouma was seen on video back on Feb. 6 punting one of his two felines across his house's floor, and then slapping one of them as well. Earlier this week, he was formally charged over the incident.

The 27-year-old, who's a member of France's national team, appeared at Thames Magistrates' Court in London ... and pleaded guilty to two charges -- one accusing him of kicking a cat in the abdomen, and one accusing him of slapping a cat in the head.

Kurt's younger brother, Yoan, also pleaded guilty to a charge that he aided and abetted Kurt during the incident after officials say he was the one who filmed it all and posted it to social media.

The two are due back in court on June 1 for sentencing -- it's unclear if either is facing significant jail time.

Kurt had previously apologized for his actions in the days after the video went viral, saying, "There are no excuses for my behaviour, which I sincerely regret." He was later fined by his West Ham team, and lost sponsorships as well.

At the hearing Tuesday, Kurt agreed to give up the cats -- which have been in the possession of the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals since February. They're now in the process of finding a new home.

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."