Controversial S#!T

Ricky Martin has been accused of domestic violence in Puerto Rico -- although it appears the alleged victim may be someone other than his spouse ... this per several reports.

Multiple Spanish outlets that operate in PR -- including Telemundo -- reported Saturday that a protective order is in the process of being filed and executed against the pop star in a municipality near San Juan ... citing law enforcement officials who confirmed the complaint falls within their Law 54 statute, which deals with DV.

The reports state an anonymous person -- who goes unnamed -- recently appeared before a judge in their own right to seek the TRO without going to the police first and without Ricky being present ... and the order was apparently granted based on the evidence presented.

The court reportedly scheduled a hearing on the matter between both parties for July 21.

Some reports are saying the alleged victim is a male, while others suggest it's a female. One outlet, claiming to have seen the docs themselves, says they read in part ... "The parties were related for 7 months. They separated 2 months ago, but the petitioner does not accept the separation. He calls him frequently. In addition, the petitioner has seen him hanging around his residence on at least 3 occasions. The petitioner fears for his safety."

That certainly doesn't sound like Ricky's husband of 5 years, Jwan Yosef -- with whom Ricky shares four children. The purported order goes on to reportedly say this ... "the petitioning party demonstrated that there is a substantial possibility of immediate risk of abuse."

As a result of the order reportedly being granted, Ricky has to steer clear of this person -- including avoiding all communication -- until this can get cleared up before a judge. As of Saturday, cops in Puerto Rico told AP they had not located Ricky to serve him.

Of course, Ricky has several residences ... including property in Puerto Rico. It's interesting this is surfacing now -- days after he was sued by his ex-manager, who claimed to have knowledge of a "career-ending allegation" from which she says she helped shield him.

Neither Ricky nor Jwan have commented on the reports. We've reached out to Ricky's reps and attorneys, so far no word back.

Enes Kanter Freedom just went in on the NBA and Adam Silver -- calling them hypocrites ... and telling TMZ Sports he believes they're trying to force him to retire due to his willingness to speak his mind.

We talked with the 30-year-old center -- who's played 11 seasons in the NBA -- while he was in D.C. this week, and he told us he's unsure if he'll be granted another opportunity to play in the Association again because of his outspokenness against the league and authoritarians across the globe.

"They're pushing me to retire at the age of 30, unfortunately," Enes said. "I'm going to push through it. I'm still working out. I'm still practicing."

"But, the one thing I can say is, the NBA and Adam Silver is definitely one of the most hypocritical organizations and one of the most hypocritical commissioners out there in the world."

Enes accused the NBA -- who does business with China -- of having "billions of dollars tied up with that dictatorship" ... and, as a result, he feels they prioritize their bottom line (money) over human rights.

"They stand up for things until it affects their money or business," Enes said, "and someone had to expose them, and someone finally exposed them and from firsthand."

Enes did, however, give a nod to his NBA brothers and WNBA sisters for speaking up about Brittney Griner -- who remains in jail in Russia on drug charges -- but he wishes the United States government would be more aggressive in their approach to bring her home.

"They definitely need to do more because you're dealing with, like I said again, one of the most brutal dictatorships in the world," Enes said.

Marilyn Manson's legal situation with Evan Rachel Wood -- who's accused him of abuse -- is being compared to Johnny Depp's ... this as a Twitter thread linking the two is going viral.

The thread -- consisting of several tweets that attempt to paint MM as an abuser -- got started Friday ... with the author, who says she's an IPV survivor/advocate, laying out what she claims is evidence that she insists backs ERW's horrific allegations against her ex.

At a few different points in her deep dive, the Twitter user mentions ties between Manson and Depp -- including the fact that they're close friends ... while suggesting Manson may be ripping a page out his JD's playbook by taking his accuser to court with a defamation suit.

As TMZ reported ... Manson accused Wood of concocting her claims against him in an alleged elaborate scheme he says was meant to ruin his reputation and career. He's denied all of her allegations, including those from the other women who've also accused him.

Back to Johnny for a minute, though, because there's a debate raging about whether the claims he leveled against Amber Heard -- which were found to be mostly true by a jury -- are, in fact, comparable to Manson ... who is also alleging his accuser is making all this up.

The Twitter user notes that the cases are totally separate with differing evidence and allegations -- but throughout, she appears to be implying that JD has established a dangerous precedent for men accused of abuse ... including Manson.

A handful online agree -- namely, that the support Depp amassed throughout his trial could backfire by automatically lending itself to other stars in similar scenarios ... in this case, Manson, who some believe has been credibly accused, considering the deets of his case.

Others, however, are standing firm that supporting Depp doesn't automatically mean support for Manson ... and that trying to conflate the two cases just because they're pals is wrong.

What almost everyone seems to be missing is that Johnny was within his right to take his accuser to court and have the facts laid out ... as is Manson, as is anyone else. It's called due process -- and everyone is entitled to exercise it if they have a legal bone to pick.

The state of Texas is in a state of confusion as to what the actual law is over abortion -- made only more dubious by a decision its high court just handed down.

On Friday, the Texas Supreme Court overturned a lower court's ruling from earlier this week giving clinics/docs there the green light to continue carrying out abortions up to the 6-week mark -- allowing women a last-minute chance to get abortions before the state's trigger law goes into effect at the end of July ... which will outlaw most instances of abortion, period.

The reason the lower court even had to weigh in on this now is because pro-choice advocates sued the state after TX AG Ken Paxton effectively tried accelerating the trigger law date to right now ... via a loophole in an ancient Texas law from 1925 as his justification.

The 1925 law and the forthcoming trigger law are separate, but essentially enforce the same thing ... a woman cannot get an abortion in Texas, unless having the baby threatens her life.

Paxton apparently didn't wanna wait until the end of July for the trigger law to go into effect, and publicly declared this week that the old law of nearly 100 years could, in fact, be applied today -- both criminally and civilly -- seeing how it had remained on the books this entire time. Before Roe v. Wade was overturned last week, it had superseded the 1925 law.

After the lower court banned this enforcement through a TRO, he filed an appeal with the TX Supreme Court -- asking them to temporarily lift the ban ... which they did late last night. So, as of right now, that 1925 law is in play in Texas -- although, criminal prosecution for violating it is on hold at the moment, per the court. A hearing on this is set for July 12.

It's a stark reality either way ... any woman who was/is attempting to get an abortion in TX before the trigger law hits is now hamstrung with all these back-and-forth rulings.

Several other states' trigger laws have already materialized ... and when the rest do as well, it's going to be a mess as women travel to neighboring states to get abortions ... at the risk of prosecution. President Biden warned of this just yesterday, saying arrests will happen.

In other words, this is far from over ... and the ramifications are going to be felt for a while, at least until the next couple election cycles -- when would-be elected officials could do something to reverse SCOTUS' decision by codifying abortion rights through legislation.

Britney Spears' lawyer is calling BS on her former business manager, claiming the owner of the company lied about its involvement in the conservatorship, and THAT'S why it's objecting to forking over critical documents about its conduct.

Britney's lawyer, Mathew Rosengart, filed legal docs obtained by TMZ ... saying Tri Star Entertainment -- which he says snagged more than $18 million from the 13-year run of the conservatorship -- has lied to the judge by claiming it had no involvement in the creation of the conservatorship. Rosengart notes ... just before Jamie Spears went to court and became his daughter's temporary conservator, he borrowed a minimum of $40,000 from Tri Star, which at the time was a pretty obscure company and repped no other celebrities.

Rosengart believes the money had strings attached ... that Jamie would get the cash and Tri Star would get Britney's business. The lawyer has said in the past, this alleged quid pro quo is highly suspicious if not improper, and he wants Tri Star to produce all the documents related to the issue, but Tri Star wants a judge to block that move.

Britney's lawyer notes Tri Star's owner, Lou Taylor, has reportedly said her company had "no role whatsoever in the creation of a conservatorship for Britney Spears." Taylor's associate, Robin Greenhill, said in a sworn declaration, "At the time the conservatorship ... was established by this Court in early 2008, Tri Star had no role in Ms. Spears' affairs."

Rosengart says that's just false, pointing to an email from Lou Taylor to Jamie in January 2008, weeks before the conservatorship was established, in which she wrote, "he [attorney Andrew Wallet] and tri star will serve as co's [i.e., co-conservators] w you." Taylor wrote another email to another lawyer before the conservatorship was established, saying, "I look forward to working with you."

And, there's this ... one of Jamie's lawyers sent an email to Taylor before going to court and creating the temporary conservatorship, saying, "We have run into a problem with [the] judge selection ... the only judge who will be able to hear our case on Friday is the one drug [sic] who will not give Jamie the power to administer psychotropic drugs."

Rosengart notes, during the run of the conservatorship, Tri Star got a 5% cut of whatever Britney made, and that amounted to more than $18 million. He also says Tri Star's celebrity clientele -- which includes members of the Kardashian family and Travis Scott -- was built off the back of one Britney Spears.

And, Rosengart wants documents to determine Tri Star's role, if any, in secretly monitoring Britney's communications, including her text messages. Of course, the attorney also wants to review Tri Star's communications with Jamie Spears regarding the latter's conduct in the conservatorship.

The judge has yet to rule on whether Tri Star must ante up the docs.

"Crash" director Paul Haggis will see his name removed from a city park in his Canadian hometown if he's found guilty of sexual assault ... and if the city council gets its way.

South London, Ontario honored the Oscar-winning filmmaker back in 2011 with the Paul Haggis Park, but since his recent arrest in Italy for allegedly forcing a woman to have sex with him at a bed and breakfast ... there's a growing movement to change that.

London City Council member Elizabeth Peloza, whose district covers Paul Haggis Park, tells TMZ ... she's closely following Paul's case, and if he's convicted she will file a motion to immediately remove his name from the park.

Peloza says the allegations against Paul are very serious and she's committed to creating a safe space for women and girls at the park ... which is why she would be in favor of scrubbing his name.

Paul's lawyer says his client is innocent of the allegations, and the reality is the director's probably way more concerned with maintaining his freedom than keeping his name on the park.

Nelson Piquet not only used racist language toward Lewis Hamilton -- the 3-time Formula 1 champion also issued a homophobic phrase while discussing the Mercedes superstar in 2021 ... a newly resurfaced clip shows.

69-year-old Piquet was recently banned from the F1 paddock over his controversial comments about Hamilton in an interview with Motorsports Talk last year ... when he, according to a translation by CNN Brazil, referred to the 7-time champ as a "little n*****."

Piquet is now facing even more backlash for comments made in a separate interview from last November ... in which he used the same word to describe Lewis, while also dropping a homophobic phrase.

As we previously reported, Piquet -- whose daughter, Kelly, dates Max Verstappen -- clarified his initial controversial comment in a statement this week ... claiming the term is used in Brazilian Portuguese to say "guy" or "person" and he had no racist intent behind his words.

Max also backed Piquet ... admitting what he said was wrong, but claiming the racing legend is no racist.

The new clip will certainly cause a stir within the sport ... which has made a push in recent years to welcome fans and drivers from all different backgrounds.

In fact, Sebastian Vettel said in an interview earlier this month F1 would welcome its first openly gay driver ... and Mercedes debuted a rainbow "Pride Star" for the month of June to raise awareness for the LGBTQ+ community.

Lewis has yet to respond -- the drivers are currently in the middle of practice for the British Grand Prix this weekend -- but he will certainly address it when the time comes.

Phoenix Mercury star Skylar Diggins-Smith just took a dig at her own head coach -- calling the woman a clown following comments she made on the WNBA's newly-announced All-Star rosters.

Vanessa Nygaard made the remarks on Wednesday -- the day after the WNBA All-Star starters and reserves were announced -- slamming the game's voters for not putting Diggs' teammate, Diana Taurasi, on a roster.

"I reiterate that she [Diana Taurasi] should be an All-Star," Nygaard said. "There will be a game in Chicago, but it will not be an All-Star game because Diana Taurasi's not playing."

Diggins-Smith -- who signed with the Mercury in 2020 -- caught the clip and was clearly furious over it ... considering she actually had made the roster and is slated to go to the big game.

Diggins-Smith retweeted the video with a 🤡 emoji ... definitely taking the remarks as shade.

Of course, Diggins-Smith and Taurasi have had an icy relationship recently ... just last month, the two got into a heated exchange right on the bench and had to be separated by teammates.

The mother of Miles Bridges' two children just shared several disturbing images of the injuries she claims to have suffered at the hands of the NBA forward ... saying she sustained a fractured nose and wrist, a severe concussion and more.

"I hate that it has come to this but I can't be silent anymore," Mychelle Johnson said in an Instagram post on Thursday. "I've allowed someone to destroy my home, abuse me in every way possible and traumatize our kids for life."

TMZ Sports broke the story -- Bridges was arrested for felony domestic violence on Wednesday ... after Johnson claims they got in an argument that turned physical.

The woman's identity was not revealed at the time, but Johnson is now breaking her silence on the alleged incident ... and her version of the story is troubling.

Mychelle says Miles choked her until she went to sleep ... tearing muscles in her neck in the process.

The photos appear to show various marks and bruises on different parts of Johnson's body -- including her face, arms, legs, neck, hands, wrists and back.

Johnson also appeared to share her medical forms from the emergency room ... where the diagnosis is listed as "Adult victim of physical abuse by male partner."

The form states Johnson suffered "Assault by strangulation, brain concussion, closed fracture of nasal bone, contusion of rib, multiple bruises, strain of neck muscle."

"I don't need sympathy," Johnson added. "I just don't want this happening to anyone else, I just want this person to get help, my kids deserve better."

"That's all I want. It hurts, everything hurts, this situation hurts, most importantly I'm scared and hurting for my kids who were witness to everything."

Along with the alleged injury photos, Johnson also posted a video where their son recounts the alleged attack on his mom.

Johnson and Bridges first started dating around 2016 ... and have two young children together. There are reports the couple is married.

Bridges -- who has not addressed the allegations -- was booked and released Wednesday afternoon ... and resurfaced on Thursday at a basketball workout.

Bridges is coming off the best season of his career ... and was expected to be a top target in free agency.

Jamie Spears flatly denies bugging his daughter's bedroom ... one of the most explosive charges leveled against her former conservator.

Jamie filed a declaration, obtained by TMZ, in connection with the ongoing battle over alleged misdeeds committed during Britney Spears' 13-year conservatorship, and he said flatly, "I am informed of the allegation by Britney's counsel that a listening device or 'bug' was placed [in] her bedroom as surveillance during the Conservatorship. This allegation is false. I never conducted or authorized any surveillance of Britney's bedroom at any time, including during the conservatorship."

He went on to say he was not aware of any such device that was placed in his daughter's bedroom.

The New York Times documentary about Britney's conservatorship featured Alex Vlasov, a former employee of Black Box Security ... the company Jamie hired. He claimed such a device was indeed secretly placed in her bedroom to spy ... allegedly listening to private conversations.

Britney's lawyer, Mathew Rosengart, has gone after Jamie hard, saying he violated his client's privacy and civil liberties.

A$AP Rocky's arrest in Sweden a few years back almost triggered an international trade war ... with then-President Donald Trump demanding his release -- or else.

Sweden's Justice Minister just revealed the information ... that Trump threatened to impose trade restrictions if A$AP wasn't freed stat.

The Justice Minister said Trump's threats were classic bullying, adding, "If you can try and do something like this against Sweden, what will you then try and do to slightly weaker countries that don't have the European Union behind them?"

The J.M. said Trump's actions clearly showed how essential it is to stand up for democracy.

As we reported ... A$AP was arrested 3 years ago in Stockholm after he and 2 bodyguards beat up a fan outside a fast-food restaurant ... and it was caught on video. They hit and kicked the guy ... then hit him with a broken bottle.

A$AP and co. said the guy had been harassing them and hurling racial epithets at them well. A$AP was held for more than a month.

Trump was briefed by Kanye and tweeted his support for A$AP, saying "Very disappointed in Prime Minister Stefan Lofven for being unable to act. Sweden has let our African American Community down in the United States," adding, "I watched the tapes of A$AP Rocky, and he was being followed and harassed by troublemakers. Treat Americans fairly. #FreeRocky."

Busy Philipps is joining the millions of Americans protesting the Supreme Court's overturn of Roe v. Wade ... and she's making her stand near Capitol Hill.

Busy was with hundreds of other demonstrators Thursday in Washington, D.C. ... marching down a street near the Supreme Court with a giant banner reading "We Won't Back Down."

The "Cougar Town" star was on the group's front line as they sang "We want justice" to the melody of Queen's hit "I Want it All."

Beyond the marching and singing, Busy made it clear she means business when it comes to opposing the controversial SCOTUS ruling -- she was wearing a t-shirt that says, "I will aid and abet abortion."

As you know, protests have been nearly nonstop since last Friday when the Supreme Court finally issued its opinion on Roe v. Wade ... after a draft of the opinion leaked back in early May.

Max Verstappen is breaking his silence on Nelson Piquet's controversial comments about Lewis Hamilton ... saying the 3-time champion was wrong to use the language he did, but insisting his girlfriend's father is not a racist.

"Everyone is against racism, I think it's very straight," Max told reporters ahead of this weekend's British Grand Prix.

"I think the wording that was used, even though, of course, we have different kind of cultures and things that were said when they were younger, is not correct."

As we previously reported, Piquet was discussing an accident between Hamilton and Verstappen at the 2021 British Grand Prix in an interview with Motorsports Talk ... when, according to a translation by CNN Brazil, he referred to Hamilton as a "little n*****."

Piquet has since apologized ... but adamantly denied any racial intent behind his comment, saying it was a term used in Brazilian Portuguese to mean "guy" or "person."

Max backs the man up ... saying he's known Nelson to be a good man.

"I've spent a bit of time with Nelson," said Max -- who's dating Piquet's daughter, Kelly. "And, he's definitely not a racist and he's actually a really nice and relaxed guy."

Verstappen says the backlash can be a lesson for all people to keep from using the word in question ... calling it "very offensive."

As for Nelson's ban from the F1 paddock ... Max is against the punishment.

"When you ban people, you are actually not helping the situation," Verstappen said.

Former Formula 1 chief Bernie Ecclestone just gave an eyebrow-raising endorsement of Vladimir Putin ... calling the Russian president a "first-class person" and claiming he'd "take a bullet" for him.

The controversial comments came during Ecclestone's appearance on Good Morning Britain ... when the billionaire was asked if he still supports his friend amid Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

"I'd still take a bullet for him," 91-year-old Ecclestone said Thursday. "I'd rather it didn’t hurt, but if it does I'd still take a bullet, because he’s a first-class person. What he’s doing is something that he believed was the right thing he was doing for Russia."

Pretty interesting take, considering many want to see Putin dead.

Ecclestone also went after Volodymyr Zelenskyy ... claiming the Ukrainian president should have done more on his end to prevent the war.

"The other person in Ukraine," Ecclestone added. "His profession, I understand, he used to be a comedian. And I think he seems as if he wants to continue that profession."

"I think if he'd have thought about things, he would have definitely made the big enough effort to speak to Mr. Putin, who is a sensible person and would have listened to him and could have probably done something about it."

F1 distanced itself from his comments shortly after the interview ... saying, "The comments made by Bernie Ecclestone are his personal views and are in very stark contrast to the position of the modern values of our sport."

Draymond Green is sharing his regret over calling Kendrick Perkins a "c**n" ... admitting he should have used a different word to get his point across while beefing with the ex-NBA player/current analyst.

The 4-time champ and Perk had been chirping at each other for a while, but things took a serious turn earlier this week when Green referred to the ESPN talent as the racial term ... which prompted Perk to respond with a fiery video on Instagram that's since been deleted.

The Warriors star says he spoke with NBA commish Adam Silver and lifelong friend/Pistons legend Joe Dumars over his comments ... and he now has a better understanding of why he was in the wrong, even though he didn't have any racial intent behind it.

"I'm no idiot, I do understand the word c**n is used in a racial way," Green said on his podcast. "However, I also think growing up, culturally, things are different. We all grow up in different places, we all use words different, and so for me, when I use the word – like I said, I could have very well replaced it with clown – growing up where I grew up, you may say to one of your boys 'Yo, stop acting like a c**n.'"

"And for me, it's like, 'stop acting corny, you're on some weird-type stuff," he added. "'That's wack, you don't have to do that, that's wack.' So for me, in using the word, that's what I was implying."

Green says using the word is "a huge moment for growth and learning for me" as a member of the "new" media ... and understands he represents the league as a whole when he takes the mic.

"And, as someone who stands against racism, who you know has stood against it for years and is not afraid to get out in front of it, I can admit right here that I was wrong. And, regardless of how I may use the word with my friends or how that word may be perceived anywhere else in the world, it was wrong here."

R. Kelly has just been sentenced to 30 years in federal prison following his conviction for 9 federal charges, including sex crimes and human trafficking.

The disgraced singer was in the federal courthouse Wednesday in Brooklyn when Judge Ann M. Donnelly announced his sentence ... bringing a close to one of the U.S. Attorney's Office's highest-profile criminal prosecutions in years.

Kelly's known he could get 10 years to life since he was convicted last September on all 9 counts. He declined to give a statement during sentencing.

As we reported, federal prosecutors had recommended no less than 25 years in prison based on the severity of Kelly's crimes.

Kelly's trial had taken just over a month, and his attorneys seemed overmatched in court -- federal prosecutors called for more witnesses than the defense.

Kelly's legal team called on a handful of ex-Kelly employees and associates -- all saying, under oath, they never saw Kelly abuse anyone.

Prosecutors, however, brought dozens of witnesses to the stand, poking holes in that claim ... some said Kelly had managers, bodyguards and assistants who rounded up his potential victims before the singer groomed them for unwanted sex, among other things.

Kelly himself never took the stand.

We spoke with one of Kelly's victims, Lizzette Martinez, who told us he's more than earned a life sentence ... she says the guy's proven multiple times he's using his power to get what he wants, and he shouldn't be given the chance to prey on women again.