Controversial S#!T

A new photo has emerged from the January 6th insurrection, one that shows then-VP Mike Pence hiding away as rioters stormed the Capitol, chanting about killing him.

The pic shows Pence and his family seeking refuge in his ceremonial office -- not far from the Senate floor -- second lady Karen Pence shuts the curtains as they shelter in place.

The photo was snapped just a few minutes after the Capitol was breached ... and as many started chanting "Hang Mike Pence." The Pence family was taken to a loading dock under the building not long after.

Pence and his daughter, Charlotte, eventually returned to the Capitol when the dust settled, and continued to work on his speech for when Congress reconvened.

As we reported, former President Donald Trump seemingly defended the insurrectionists that had it out for his VP, claiming they were understandably angry.

He claimed he wasn't worried about the Veep's safety at the time, telling ABC's Jonathan Karl, "I thought he was well-protected and I had heard he was in good shape."

Trump chalked the "Hang Mike Pence" stuff to common sense -- calling the guy out for passing what he believed was a fraudulent vote to Congress, AKA certifying Biden.

Khloe Kardashian has clearly had enough of Tristan Thompson and his cheating ways, giving a behind-the-scenes look at her reaction after she'd learned he got another woman pregnant.

Khloe didn't hold back on Thursday's season finale of "The Kardashians" during a chat with sister, Kim Kardashian, Khloe said of TT, "Wow, you really f***** up your life."

During the heart-to-heart, Kim tells Khloe, "If that were me and I was really trying to redeem myself and I was trying to be a better person, I would definitely just keep my d*** in my pants."

Khloe chimes in saying, "You would think. You either wear a condom, get a vasectomy, or you don't f*** random people that you meet in other states. It's not rocket science".

Of course, we know the random person turned out to be personal trainer Maralee Nichols, and Tristan ended up being the father of her son. As you know, Tristan filed legal docs admitting to having sex with her almost immediately after the 30th birthday party Khloe threw for him.

As we've reported, TT caught the full wrath of the Kardashian sisters, including Kylie who called him "the worst person on the planet", but clearly Khloe had a few words to say too.

Ryan Adams is ready to get back to performing for his fans -- after some of the most difficult years of his life -- telling us his prep has him 9 months sober and super sore!

We got the singer-songwriter out on a run at The Hollywood Reservoir Wednesday, a place that's become familiar to Ryan as of late. He tells us he's been working through his mental health struggles with 5-6 miles of running per day, and it's also helped him stay clean.

He's also mounting a comeback after a 2019 New York Times report accusing him of sending sexual messages to an underage fan as well as being "manipulative, obsessive and controlling" with 7 other women -- including his ex-wife Mandy Moore and singer Phoebe Bridgers.

Eventually, the FBI cleared Adams in the underage messages case -- but he hadn't really gotten on stage since then.

Now, he's just announced an 8-gig string of shows -- including Chicago and Milwaukee -- to start in October ... this after he quietly took the stage for 5 comeback shows in May. Sources close tell us ticket sales have already been strong ... proving fans still wanna see him in action.

While Ryan wouldn't exactly tell us his thoughts on cancel culture -- avoiding the topic by reminding us just how sore he was -- you gotta imagine he's excited about the chance of a legit comeback.

George Washington University is bailing on its nickname ... saying Wednesday it's set to retire its "Colonials" moniker -- in wake of inclusivity concerns.

In announcing the decision Wednesday, school officials said they made the choice after members of its campus and its community repeatedly expressed displeasure over the "Colonials" name for years.

According to a special committee the university tasked with analyzing the moniker, opponents of the name said that the term "Colonial" is so closely associated with "people who oppressed Native Americans and owned slaves" that it should be changed.

In a lengthy statement Wednesday, school officials said they agreed it was time for an adjustment.

"Today," school official Christopher Alan Bracey said, "the moniker no longer does the work that a moniker should -- namely, unifying the campus behind our academic and athletic institutional aspirations."

The school said "Colonials" -- a moniker the university initially adopted back in 1926 -- will remain the university's nickname until a new one is conceived.

It's expected that, following "a broad university community engagement process," the new name will be announced by the 2023-24 academic year.

What's interesting ... a school official tells TMZ Sports that despite a new nickname, the school is keeping "George" as its mascot.

"The decision to change the Colonials moniker was not taken lightly, and both the Board and Special Committee determined a new moniker will help unify the university community and serve as a source of pride," the school said in its statement.

XXL just released its hotly debated Freshman List for the 15th year — and there are no noticeable snubs ... as far as Yung Bleu can see.

The budding star's the perfect guy to weigh in with his hot take, because just last year he was the center of attention when XXL left him off the 2021 Freshman List.

We caught up with Bleu Davinci outside LAX and he had no smoke for the '22 XXL Freshman List, which consists of Babyface Ray, BabyTron, Big30, Big Scarr, Cochise, Doechii, Kali, KayCyy, KenTheMan, Nardo Wick, Saucy Santana and SoFaygo.

While Bleu feels like the list doesn't have power over artists' careers anymore -- rendering it kind of irrelevant -- he was happy to see the new class members get their shine.

We also got his take on the social media debate of Michael Jackson vs. Chris Brown's talent supremacy -- and Bleu didn't go the route of his homie Tank and side with CB ... he simply stated each generation will crown their hero and both their talents are uncanny.

Bleu’s career has been thriving since the 2021 “snub” … he went on to win Best New Artist at both the BET Hip Hop and Soul Train Awards that year and his double platinum-selling Drake collab “You’re Mines Still” has over 200 million YouTube views.

And, on top of that, he'll be on CB's new album, which is dropping this summer.

The video game developer for "Halo Infinite" is under fire for rolling out a new nameplate to honor Juneteenth ... folks are enraged the customization was named after an ape.

The folks over at 343 Industries apparently thought it would be a good idea to title the nameplate -- a palette adding a red, black and green colorway to a player's username -- "Bonobo" ... which is an endangered primate.

Problem is ... folks were angry with the association of apes with Juneteenth, considering the racist and discriminatory history between those words and Black people.

As you know ... Juneteenth is now a federal holiday, commemorating the day the last enslaved Americans got the news President Lincoln had abolished slavery.

In response to the backlash, the video game developer renamed the nameplate to "Freedom" and then to "Juneteenth."

343 Industries says the nameplate was originally named "Bonobo" in reference to a developer tool -- and they claim it was an oversight on their end.

Bonnie Ross, the founder and head of 343 Industries, says once they were made aware the nameplate "contained a term that was offensive and hurtful" they immediately made a change with a game update.

Amber Heard says she has a lot of mixed feelings about Johnny Depp post-trial, but one of those feelings is apparently love ... even after all of the nasty back and forth.

The final clip from actress' sit-down with "Today" aired Wednesday, and a range of topics was covered ... including where her ex lies in heart. According to Amber, JD is still near and dear, to some degree -- despite the fact he took her to court and won $8.35M.

Savannah Guthrie references Amber's own words about Johnny -- a statement in which she said she still has love for him -- and asks if it's true today. AH says it is.

Amber was also asked if she feels like Johnny has succeeded in ruining her globally -- as he alluded to over text once -- and she says yes, going on to say she feels like he could sue her again if she isn't careful.

Savannah asks about Amber's young daughter and how she plans on explaining this to her one day ... Amber says she'll tell her the truth, and be okay with it knowing she did the right thing, as she believes she's on the right side of history.

At one point in the full interview, Amber is asked about credibility -- including her $7 million pledge to the ACLU, which she hasn't completed -- and while she notes she shouldn't have had to make that to be believed, AH acknowledges that might've played a factor in the jury ruling against her. As Savannah notes, the trial was all about character and trustworthiness.

A gym owner was caught on video saying racist remarks about a vendor in his business, but he claims the whole thing was taken out of context.

Akop “Jack” Torosian, owner of No Limit Super Gym in Los Angeles and Miami, had a grand re-opening over the weekend at his Hollywood location after some remodeling ... things started to get heated when he allegedly found out someone was selling juice in the gym without his permission.

He's heard complaining about a "Mexican" selling their product at his place, telling someone to "get him the f*** out of here," adding "this is not a Mexican hangout."

Jack, who refers to his gym as a "sanctuary" online -- and posts videos of himself smoking, while lifting, while getting a haircut -- has since apologized, saying the video was out of context ... though it's hard to explain the racist phrasing used.

He's claiming his own staff had been taking advantage of him ... while being away in Miami, he says his employees opened up a juice bar and brought outside vendors to help -- something he claims wasn't approved.

Gunna isn’t taking his incarceration lightly … evidenced by a fiery letter he’s written from jail where he says America is violating his Freedom of Speech rights.

In an open letter dated on his 29th birthday — Tuesday, June 14, the incarcerated “Pushin P” rapper speaks on how his breakout year was flipped after being part of a 56-count indictment that included Young Thug and several other YSL members.

He writes, “22 & 2, just a bed & a shower, no windows just walls. Can’t see or talk to anyone. I’m writing now & still praying everyday. I was raised to fight fire with water, even tho my country’s amendments have failed me! PROTECT BLACK ART!”

T.I., who’s had several run-ins with the law throughout his rap career, immediately swooped in with words of encouragement.

Sad thing is ... Gunna wasn’t lying about 2022 being his time to shine. His album “DS4EVER” beat out The Weeknd to go No. 1 and his gold-selling “Pushin P” record set a trend.

Thug recently also broke his silence — live at Hot 97’s Summer Jam ... urging fans to sign to the Protect Black Art initiative — as did Chris Brown, DJ Khaled, Post Malone, Polo G, Meek Mill and several other high-profile artists.

Trick Daddy is super pissed at Ron DeSantis for Florida's myriad financial problems, calling the Governor a "white bigot" ... but he's also blaming voters, or lack thereof.

The "I'm a Thug" rapper is the latest guest on "It's Tricky with Raquel Harper," and he rips into Gov. DeSantis when asked what life is like these days in his home state.

Trick Daddy says he feels for all those seeing their rents raised by hundreds of dollars ... but he's not blaming President Biden, a la Jake Paul, and is instead focusing his rage on DeSantis.

Raised rents aren't the only bone Trick Daddy has to pick with DeSantis ... he's also going after the Governor for Florida's so-called "Don't Say Gay" bill and super strict abortion laws.

The way Trick Daddy sees it ... DeSantis, a prospective Republican candidate for president, is singling out all types of people and their ways of life with "racist and biased" legislation.

As for his rant about DeSantis being "from another country" -- we think TD's referring to the fact his ancestors were Italian immigrants in the early 20th century.

Lizzo's changing a controversial lyric in her new song after online backlash ... acknowledging words have power and saying she doesn't want to promote derogatory language.

Here's the deal -- Lizzo dropped her new single, "Grrrls," Friday and caught a ton of flak on social media for including the term "sp*z" in the lyrics.

Lizzo's original opening verse went like this ... "Hold my bag, bitch/ Hold my bag/ Do you see this s***?/ I'm a sp*z/ I'm about to knock somebody out/ Yo, where my best friend?/ She the only one I know to talk me off the deep end."

After getting tons of heat over the weekend, Lizzo announced Monday she'd heard the concerns, listened and made a change.

Lizzo says she's had tons of hurtful words directed at her over the years because she's a self-proclaimed "fat black woman in America" ... and says she understands the power words can carry.

She maintains there was no harmful intention behind the original lyrics and says she's proud to make a change for a new version of her song, which samples "Girls" from the Beastie Boys.

Patrick Mahomes' wife, Brittany, is at war with social media trolls once again ... this time, she's calling one of 'em out after a very offensive and triggering comment made on Instagram.

The remark was left under a photo of Brittany, her superstar husband, and their daughter, Sterling ... announcing they're expecting another baby.

The troll unleashed the disgusting comment in a reply to another user -- saying, "if I was stuck w this woman for life I'd kill myself."

The 26-year-old rightfully took offense ... and put the hater on blast in a response via her IG story.

"Making comments like this are very very concerning but also highly inappropriate," Matthews said. "'Killing yourself' is not a term to just be throwing around like this."

"It's actually a very serious matter. People deal with these thoughts often. And it can be VERY TRIGGERING to some people."

Brittany continued, saying in today's world, cyberbullying can be "extremely hurtful" and because we don't know anyone's mindset, we need to be more cautious.

"Please be aware when you say stuff like this and know it can affect a lot of people if they even read or see these words. Let's be better."

FYI, suicide is the 12th leading cause of death in the U.S. according to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.

Brittany has come forward about being on the receiving end of hurtful messages on social media in the past -- she even made "Team Brittany" shirts to help raise money for an anti-bullying organization after getting hate for her champagne celebration during a Chiefs playoff win this past season.

One of R. Kelly's many victims thinks the feds' recommendation of 25 years in prison is too low, and instead, he should spend the rest of his days behind bars.

Lizzette Martinez tells TMZ ... Kelly's more than earned a life sentence due to the fact he's hurt so many people over several decades.

She doesn't think his abuse will ever come to an end, because -- as federal prosecutors point out -- the guy's proven multiple times he's using his power to get what he wants, and he can't be given the chance to prey on women again.

Kitti Jones, another one of R. Kelly's victims, tells us she has no issue with the prosecutors' recommendation, however ... no amount of time will give her, and others, back their time or remove their trauma.

Both women were featured in the "Surviving R. Kelly" docuseries which sparked renewed prosecution, and ultimately, Kelly's downfall -- and they say they'll be present for his sentencing later this month.

As we reported, the U.S. Attorney's Office won a conviction against Kelly last September, and just filed its recommendation for his sentencing -- saying there's a laundry list of reasons to send him away for "in excess of 25 years."

Elvis Presley is NOT coming through in Austin Butler's portrayal of the late legend -- so says TikTok anyway ... even though the King's own flesh and blood loves the performance.

The official "Elvis" page's TikTok account posted a clip from the film -- which is due out this month -- and it shows AB as Elvis talking to another character behind the Hollywood sign ... discussing how people wanted to take him down when he first splashed on the scene.

Apparently, the "Elvis" team was trying to get some sort of viral challenge going, but instead ... they received a lot of mockery -- specifically over how some perceive Austin's look/voice.

You can take a look at some of the comments yourself ... it's a tough crowd out there. Some say he simply doesn't pass as EP by the eye test, but just as many say his accent is off -- with some (jokingly?) arguing that a Vegas impersonator might've been a better fit.

Yeah, we know ... harsh criticism for sure. But, keep in mind, this is just one snippet of the movie -- and more importantly, Elvis' surviving relatives (including his widow, Priscilla Presley) have been singing Austin's praises these past few months ... saying he nailed it.

She recently said Austin knocked the role out of the park, ditto for their daughter Lisa Marie -- who said AB deserves an Oscar for this one. Even Riley Keough (Elvis' granddaughter) was heaping on kudos ... posting a BTS clip showing Austin singing Elvis tunes himself.

So, it's clear the Presley family has cosigned this flick ... and more importantly, Austin's turn as Ol' Snake Hips himself. And, at the end of the day, that's all that probably matters.

We actually got Austin out in L.A. not too long ago and asked what it meant to have the Presley family get behind the project as fervently as they have ... and while he wasn't as chatty with us as he was on the phone, he did end up saying it meant a great deal to him.

Cristiano Ronaldo is off the hook in his Vegas rape case -- the civil one, for now -- because a judge just threw out the lawsuit against him ... and kinda admonished the accuser too.

U.S. District Judge Jennifer Dorsey dismissed the case entirely Friday, but not because she found there was no merit in the accusations ... but because the lawyer repping Kathryn Mayorga (the alleged victim) was apparently leaking like a sieve throughout the proceedings.

The attorney who got a forceful berating is Leslie Mark Stovall, whom the judge accused of disseminating stolen documents in the case, containing sensitive info being shared by Ronaldo and his own lawyers ... which the judge said utterly tainted the case.

The order read in part, "I find that the procurement and continued use of these documents was bad faith, and simply disqualifying Stovall will not cure the prejudice to Ronaldo because the misappropriated documents and their confidential contents have been woven into the very fabric of Mayorga's claims." The judge added, "Harsh sanctions are merited."

While the suit won't move forward at this point, Mayorga can appeal to a higher court if she wants. It's unclear if they plan to do so -- neither Mayorga or Ronaldo have commented.

As we reported ... Mayorga claims Ronaldo raped her in 2009 after a night of partying. She claims he paid her hush money in the amount of $375k ... but went public a few years ago, launching a criminal probe against the soccer star ... and which was ultimately dropped.

Saucy Santana is in the throes of a would-be cancelation via Twitter -- one he's fiercely pushing back on ... and it all has to do with old tweets about Beyonce and her kid.

The Florida rapper started responding to folks who were apparently dogging him and demanding he say sorry for messages he posted/reposted about Bey and Blue Ivy from 2014 and 2017 ... ones in which he appears to insult them over their looks.

One tweet that SS responded to reads, "I just wanna be Blue Ivy," to which he wrote ... "nappy headed or ... " Another reads, "Im sorry but North West CLEARS Blue ivy. Have several Carseats Blue" -- and to that, Santana replied, "Just said this yesterday."

Both of these tweets are from the fall of 2014 ... when Blue was about 2 1/2 years old. A few years later, he agreed that Bey looked "dry" during her pregnancy photo shoot.

So, why is all this resurfacing now??? A few things -- one, Beyonce just scrubbed her profile pics across all social media ... sending the internet into a frenzy about a potential new project. Also ... Santana's performing in Houston Saturday, plus his newest song samples her.

He's taking the stage around 6:15 PM CT for Summer Jam HTX 2022 ... and in the wake of this possible Beyonce news, some have (again) called for him to make amends while in her home city. What that amounts to exactly is unclear -- but in any case, SS says screw that.

Santana swiped back at all the criticism, writing ... "Fake woke ass bitches!!!! People don't care about old tweets. The internet have this weird thing with power! Thinking they have the power to cancel someone… NEWS FLASH! You don't! Y'all be thinking y'all have someone by the balls about situations you don't give a damn about."

He went on to say his tweets are years-old, made when he was 20 ... and he even acknowledges they were childish and hateful. But, he's doubling down and refusing to bend to random Twitter warriors' will and apologize. He asks ... "To who?! To y'all?"

Santana insists that despite what Twitter (collectively) might believe, it's not nearly as powerful as those who use it think ... and he's basically telling everyone to kick rocks.