Controversial S#!T

Red Bull Racing has suspended junior driver Juri Vips after the 21-year-old used the n-word this week while playing "Call of Duty" on a live stream.

The driver -- who's racing in Formula 2 this year -- was gaming on Twitch with another driver when microphones caught him abruptly using the racial slur.

On Tuesday, Red Bull Racing announced its suspended Vips "from all team duties" over the language ... saying an investigation is ongoing.

"As an organization, we condemn abuse of any kind," the Red Bull Racing team said in a statement, "and have a zero-tolerance policy to racist language or behaviors within our organization.”

Vips released an apology on his Instagram page shortly after the suspension was announced -- saying what he did was "unacceptable."

"I wish to unreservedly apologize for the offensive language used during a live gaming stream earlier today," Vips said.

"This language is entirely unacceptable and does not portray the values and principles that I hold. I deeply regret my actions and this is not the example I wish to set."

The Estonian driver -- who won the 2017 ADAC Formula championship -- had been sitting 7th in the Formula 2 standings this season.

Anthony Anderson is backing Dave Chappelle's decision to turn down an honor from his high school alma mater, which was all set to name a building after him.

We got AA at LAX Tuesday, and he thinks Dave's spot on by turning thumbs down on plastering the building -- the Duke Ellington School of the Arts -- with his moniker. After some controversy, the school was ready to put Dave's name right in the front, but Monday night he opted for a different name ... the Theater for Artistic Freedom and Expression.

Anthony believes Dave's a pioneer in the world of free speech, especially for comedians. Anthony acknowledges ... everyone's got their own opinion and some disagree with what Dave says, and that's ok.

While addressing the crowd Monday, Dave referenced the backlash from students over his special 'The Closer' ... and said it really hurt him.

Drake’s new album, "Honestly, Nevermind" is getting doused with mixed reviews, and Irv Gotti is definitely seeing it as a glass-half-empty ... one that makes him think hip hop needs a new kinda icon.

We chopped it up Tuesday at LAX with the visionary behind Ja Rule and Ashanti's wave of hits, and while Irv emphasized Drake is a "great human being" ... he also took him to task for his dance record.

Irv's beef is basically that famous Spider-Man quote about great power and great responsibility -- he says Drizzy's too influential to sway so far from hip hop, and his dance vibes could be a killer blow to the culture.

He even pondered about going back to his A&R days to counter the dance boom by finding the next DMX … or some other hardcore rap equivalent.

With most of the rappers singing these days, those days are likely long gone so Irv's work may be cut out for him.

Vladimir Putin, through his spokesperson, is talking about Brittney Griner's imprisonment for the first time ... refuting the charge the WNBA star is a political prisoner, saying she's locked up because she violated Russian law.

31-year-old Griner has been behind bars since February after Russian officials say she attempted to bring hashish oil into the country. The U.S., however, characterized her detainment as being politically motivated.

In other words, America believes Griner's being used as a bargaining chip ... as relations between Russia and America (and the West in general) are incredibly strained with war raging in Ukraine.

But, Dmitry Peskov, Putin's mouthpiece, told NBC News Brittney's detainment is simple -- she broke the law, and is being held accountable just like "hundreds and hundreds of Russian citizens that were sentenced for carrying hashish."

Peskov then asked ... "Why should we make an exemption for a foreign citizen?"

Putin's spokesperson also said there are many Americans living legally in Russia.

"[Griner] violated Russian law, and now she’s being prosecuted," Peskov said.

"It’s not about being a hostage. There are lots of American citizens here. They’re enjoying their freedoms … but you have to obey the laws."

Dave Chappelle's alma mater is paying tribute to him by renaming a building in his honor ... just months after he got heckled on campus during the transgender controversy.

Duke Ellington School of the Arts in Washington D.C. is set to rename its performance theater after its most noted alumni ... the school says it's honoring Dave because of his "ongoing commitment and service to the school."

As we reported, Dave paid a visit to his old high school back in November, while he was taking heat for his jokes about the transgender community.

Things got heated when he invited students who disagreed to speak during an assembly. One student stepped up and called him a bigot, adding, "I'm 16 and I think you're childish." Some students wanted the school to reverse its decision over naming the building after him.

Dave challenged both his supporters and his opponents -- asking both sides to raise money for the school, and if the opponents raised more money, he'd gladly forego the honor of having the building renamed.

As it turns out, his supporters raised the most money so the building will be called the Dave Chappelle Theatre.

Brittney Griner's wife, Cherelle, is absolutely livid she didn't get to talk to the WNBA superstar on their 4-year anniversary this past weekend ... claiming the U.S. government botched a long-awaited, scheduled call between the two.

Cherelle says Griner -- who recently had her detention in Russia extended yet again by a court in the foreign country -- tried calling nearly 12 times on Saturday, but did not get through to her, according to the Associated Press.

Cherelle says she's "very pissed" over it ... because the call had been scheduled for close to two weeks, and she had been told it would go through. And, it obviously meant the world to her -- as she's still yet to hear Griner's voice since the basketball player was taken into custody back in February.

But Cherelle says the U.S. government dropped the ball ... and didn't staff someone to work the phone on Saturday -- leaving all 11 of Griner's calls to go unanswered.

"I was distraught. I was hurt. I was done, fed up," said Cherelle, who told the AP that she later learned that the phone line is generally only staffed on weekdays, not weekends.

Cherelle said a contact from the State Department apologized to her for the mishap. The AP, meanwhile, reported the State Dept. said in a statement it's "aware of the issue and was looking into it."

However, despite the apology, Griner's wife said she's now very skeptical of the government moving forward ... saying she has "zero trust" in U.S. officials at this moment.

"If I can’t trust you to catch a Saturday call outside of business hours, how can I trust you to actually be negotiating on my wife’s behalf to come home?" Cherelle asked. "Because that’s a much bigger ask than to catch a Saturday call."

Cherelle -- who previously said she was hoping to personally meet with Joe Biden over Griner's status -- said she's losing faith that that meeting will actually go down now.

"At this point," she said, "it's starting to feel like a no."

Chris Brown wants no part of the Internet debate about whether he's more talented than Michael Jackson -- he's shutting down the whole convo after an interview on "Big Boy's Neighborhood."

During the opening moments, the L.A. radio host addressed the swirling controversy to which CB decided to dead things once and for all.

Breezy says if it wasn't for Michael Jackson, he wouldn't be anywhere near the entertainer he is today and cited a shrine he has dedicated to the late King of Pop.

For the past few weeks, hip hop artists like Fivio Foreign and Tank have been leaning toward giving CB the ultimate crown -- but Chris himself says he'd concede to the man who brought us "Thriller," "Rock With You" and "Billie Jean."

Going forward, CB is gearing up to go on tour with Lil Baby and drop his new album "Breezy" -- a project he tells Big Boy he recorded 250 songs for, before whittling it down to just 23.

U.S. women's soccer legend Megan Rapinoe believes it's "disgusting" to ban transgender athletes from competing in women's sports ... saying people need to "get a grip on reality and take a step back."

The 36-year-old made the comments in an interview with TIME shortly after FINA -- the swimming world's governing body -- voted to restrict female swimmers who transition after turning 12 or have started puberty from competing against biological women.

Rapinoe says these sorts of bans are a serious issue ... and voiced her stance against the decision.

"I’m 100% supportive of trans inclusion," Rapinoe said. "People do not know very much about it. We’re missing almost everything."

"Frankly, I think what a lot of people know is versions of the right’s talking points because they’re very loud. They’re very consistent, and they’re relentless," she added.

Rapinoe pushed back against the perception that transgender participation in sports is a "free-for-all" ... saying there has been regulation at the collegiate, professional, and Olympic levels.

The 2-time Women's World Cup champion says the focus is no longer on how peoples' lives are being affected ... but more about sports.

"We’re talking about kids," Rapinoe said. "We’re talking about people’s lives. We’re talking about the entire state government coming down on one child in some states, three children in some states."

NCAA champion Lia Thomas has been at the forefront of the conversation ... after some politicians claim her participation in women's sports destroys the spirit of competition.

Megan strongly disagrees.

"Show me the evidence that trans women are taking everyone’s scholarships, are dominating in every sport, are winning every title," Rapinoe said.

Rep. Adam Kinzinger is not cowering from crazies who are so angry at his feelings toward Donald Trump they threaten to kill him.

Kinzinger, a member of the Jan. 6th House Committee, posted a letter he says was sent to his home, and here it is ... "You are one stupid c***. That pimp you married not only broke his oath, he sold his soul. Yours, and Christian's too! Adam's activities have not only hurt this country, but countless patriotic and God-fearing families. Therefore, although it might take time, he will be executed."

Then the writer goes on to attack Adam's wife and son ... "But don't worry! You and Christian will be joining Adam in hell too! We find it blasphemous that you name the son of the devil Christian!"

Kinzinger, who is not running for re-election, appeared on ABC's "This Week" Sunday and said he believed Trump's involvement in the insurrection rose to a level of criminality.

In posting the letter, Kinzinger blamed the tone of the GOP for people like this letter-writer going nuts ... "The Darkness is spreading courtesy of cowardly leaders fearful of truth. Is the what you want @GOP? Pastors?"

BTW ... along the same lines, a GOP candidate named Eric Greitens, who's running for the U.S. Senate in Missouri, appears in a campaign ad with gun in hand, saying he's going after RINO's ... Republicans In Name Only.

Logan Paul says his relationship with The Rock was completely ruined amid the fallout from his suicide forest vlog in 2017 ... revealing his idol asked him to remove any traces of them together from social media following the controversy.

The 27-year-old YouTuber/boxer had celebs and politicians calling for him to be canceled after posting footage of a man taking his own life to his channel after a trip to Japan ... but claims one person, in particular, left him truly hurt.

"This was one of the saddest moments of my life, what I'm about to say." Logan said on the True Geordie Podcast.

"After Japan happened, I obviously found myself in a hole -- rightfully so -- that I had never been in before. Extremely low, mentally, and I got a call from my publicist, who also repped Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson."

"She's like 'Hey, Dwayne has asked that you remove every video and picture that you've done with him. Maybe in the future, the relationship can be reconciled, but for now, he basically wants nothing to do with you.' Which I also understood. I get it. I made a grotesque error."

"He has had things happen in his life where that incident has affected him in a vastly different way," Logan added.

Johnson has previously opened up about his mother's suicide attempt when he was just 15 years old ... calling for people to look out for and take care of each other.

Logan says he wishes The Rock had reached out to him personally to explain his decision to cut ties ... saying, "I feel like we had a healthy relationship, an open line of communication. I was so sad that my hero wanted nothing to do with me."

"I was sad because I understood it. I really f***ed up."

As for their relationship now, Paul says Johnson recently hit him up via Instagram DM and pretended like nothing happened ... but he didn't respond.

Johnson also reacted to Logan's recent WrestleMania appearance, saying he was very proud of the Maverick's work .... but it sounds like this relationship is far from fixed.

Lia Thomas' participation in women's swimming has reached a breaking point -- because the world's governing body for the sport has weighed in ... and their ruling is against her.

FINA -- French for the the International Swimming Federation -- came down with their decision this weekend regarding transgender athletes (specifically trans women) partaking in elite women's swimming ... and they say it's a no-go going forward, with caveats.

The org's new policy says male-to-female swimmers who transition before age of 12 or before the Tanner Stage 2 of puberty -- whichever comes later -- can compete in women's events. The reason ... they say there's no question a trans female athlete that has already gone through male puberty has an unfair physical advantage over cisgender females.

They reached this conclusion based on multiple studies, reports and presentations by 3 specialist groups, who offered their findings to FINA -- made up of members from 152 national federations -- which then voted ... with a 71% majority in favor of this decision.

In the wake of this coming down, a rep for the Prez of FINA told AP, "This is not saying that people are encouraged to transition by the age of 12. It’s what the scientists are saying, that if you transition after the start of puberty, you have an advantage, which is unfair."

The spox adds, "They’re not saying everyone should transition by age 11, that’s ridiculous. You can’t transition by that age in most countries and hopefully you wouldn’t be encouraged to. Basically, what they’re saying is that it is not feasible for people who have transitioned to compete without having an advantage." They clarified there are no trans women currently competing in elite levels of swimming ... presumably, meaning international competition.

One thing FINA is considering to be inclusive to trans swimmers ... an "open competition" category. It's ill-defined at this point, but they're tasking a team to investigate it further.

It's unclear if FINA's new rules are going to be adopted by agencies like the NCAA, which currently permits people like Lia to compete in collegiate swimming. She made history this year by winning a national title in women's swimming, the 500-meter freestyle.

In any case, some people are welcoming the news ... including Caitlyn Jenner, who's been advocating for such change for a while now -- saying trans female athletes have an undeniable physical advantage over their cisgender competition, as have many others.

She wrote, "It worked! I took a lot of heat - but what’s fair is fair! If you go through male puberty you should not be able to take medals away from females. Period."

Claims that Meghan Markle bullied her staff as a Royal have been investigated and did, indeed, spur HR changes -- but we'll never know exactly why ... so say Palace insiders.

The Sunday Times of London published a major story this weekend ... claiming they'd been told by sources with direct knowledge that the investigation launched last March into allegations that MM was a terror with her Kensington Palace workers has wrapped.

Not only is done -- with Queen Elizabeth II privately funding it herself via an outside law firm, per the Times -- but it seems something came out of it ... namely, institutional improvements to the monarchy's policies and procedures over this stuff going forward.

So, what's the tea??? Apparently, nobody is ever going to know ... because the findings are said to be getting "buried" by Buckingham Palace, which doesn't plan to release 'em.

According to the Times, citing sources, the reason for keeping this in-house is to avoid further tensions between Meghan and Harry and the rest of the Royal family ... which has left some who participated in the probe frustrated, as they seem to have wanted this out.

Now, some Meghan fans believe something more sinister is afoot here. They say the Royals were so quick to leak news of the investigation at the time (right before the Oprah interview, no less), but now that they supposedly have the goods ... they get camera shy?

Meghan is trending right now, as is the hashtag #RoyalFamilyLied. Fact is, some just don't buy what's being peddled -- because if there was a smoking gun against Meghan ... they believe the Royals/BP would leak it with haste to cover their asses/vindicate themselves.

Amber Heard is facing a stark and expensive reality after the Johnny Depp trial -- namely, that she could be on the hook for millions ... so it's no surprise she's out bargain hunting.

Check out this video, obtained by TMZ, which shows AH shopping at a TJ Maxx in Bridgehampton, NY Thursday afternoon -- where she was accompanied by her sister, Whitney Henriquez, who testified on her behalf and who's been tagging along lately.

We're told Amber and Whitney were perusing racks for clothes, and at one point they were heard discussing white linen pants. It seems the sisters had their basket full of would-be purchases. As you can see, though, when she noticed cameras rolling, Amber scrammed.

No word on what, if anything, they ended up leaving the store with -- but it's interesting that we find Amber here in the wake of all this ... especially considering the financial sitch.

As we well know by now, Amber's lawyers have gone on record to say she can't afford to pay the $8.3 million in damages awarded to Johnny by the jury ... and it remains to be seen if Depp and co. are, in fact, going to enforce it. His attorneys have signaled they might not.

Still, the fact Amber's been doing press lately and trying to present evidence she says proves her case probably isn't sitting well with JD ... not to mention the fact she keeps threatening to appeal. Time will tell if he just pulls the trigger and holds her to the judgement.

Either way, it's a precarious time in Amber's life -- not only could she be forced to pay this money she doesn't have, but she's also at risk of losing a lot of work going forward.

Fact is, she hasn't been been booked much of late. While Amber's implied that's because she has a daughter in her life now ... it's also possible nobody is calling her for acting gigs these days. She's already been paid for 'Aquaman 2,' and that was only a couple mil.

Charlie Sheen has done an about-face with daughter Sami ... now saying he's withdrawing his objections to her OnlyFans account.

Charlie was initially pissed off that the 18-year-old joined the X-rated site, but his ex-wife proved persuasive in changing his mind. Denise Richards supported Sami's decision from the jump, but Charlie begged to differ. He's now changed his mind saying, "Denise has illuminated a variety of salient points, that in my haste I overlooked and dismissed," this according to Us Weekly.

Sami's dad went on ... "Now more than ever, it’s essential that Sami have a united parental front to rely upon, as she embarks on this new adventure. From this moment forward, she’ll have it abundantly."

It's interesting ... Denise and Sami haven't gotten along during much of the time Sami was growing up, and Charlie and Denise had a rocky relationship at best, but now they're presenting a united front ... this after Sami made it clear, she's now an adult and can make her own decisions.

Charlie's daughter announced that she would be joining the X-rated service earlier this month, prompting her father to express his disapproval.

Sami's already made her move on the platform, posting a pic of her Friday, almost naked laying on a bed.

Denise and, yes, Charlie have had their own wild days, and she acknowledged it in a lengthy post ... "Lots of negative comments on my social this past week. I have to say, I wish I had the confidence my 18 yr old daughter has. And I also can't be judgmental of her choices. I did Wild Things & Playboy, quite frankly her father shouldn't be either."

As the decision over the fate of Roe vs. Wade looms, pro-choice activists descended on the home of conservative Justice Amy Coney Barrett Saturday ... dressed in blood-soaked clothing and holding dolls.

The group -- members of Rise Up 4 Abortion Rights -- traveled to the Justice's home in Falls Church, Virginia. The blood on the crotch area of their clothing symbolizes forced births if Roe is overturned.

There have been other demonstrations at the homes of other conservative justices, and it may well ramp up because the decision is expected any time now. Unless there is a radical shift, it seems the Court is poised to overturn the 50-year-old precedent, which gives women a Constitutionally-protected right to an abortion with certain ground rules.

One protest became ominous recently, when Nicholas Roske was arrested for attempted murder ... this after cops found him carrying a gun, ammo, a crowbar and pepper spray near the home of Justice Brett Kavanaugh.

Despite getting into a physical altercation with an overzealous fan on a plane in April ... Mike Tyson is still flying commercial -- telling TMZ Sports he's got no worries about similar situations in the future.

We got the legendary boxer on his way to what appeared to be another commercial flight at LAX on Friday ... and had to ask -- is he at least somewhat concerned about flying with normies going forward just three months after he punched a man on a plane for annoying him.

Tyson, though, said it's absolutely not crossing his mind ... telling us, "No way!"

The 55-year-old former fighter insisted he's more zen now.

"You know about [my weed brand] Tyson 2.0?" Tyson said. "That's what I'm about now, man. I'm all about Tyson 2.0."

It's interesting ... because Tyson previously said his wife was urging him to strictly fly private now.

As for the advice he'd give to celebs who will deal with similar overly excited fans like the one he faced in April -- Iron Mike said there's only one solution ...