Controversial S#!T

Gabby Windey finally addressed her fiance's old blackface photo from high school -- and it sounds like it's not a deal-breaker ... neither are texts he sent suggesting he's a clout chaser.

The lead star for this season's "The Bachelorette" spilled her guts after Tuesday night's finale, which revealed she gave her final rose to Erich Schwer ... who's been embroiled in a scandal behind the scenes as the final few episodes have aired.

Strangely enough, the couple didn't discuss the blackface saga during last night's "After the Final Rose" special -- but she did tell People magazine she was appalled at first, but seems kinda over it too.

Gabby says of Erich's old Jimi Hendrix costume blunder ... "I was incredibly shocked. [I] just really had to process my thoughts and then think about how we can grow as a couple and learn from this."

Erich apologized, and it seems that was good enough for Gabby ... 'cause that's all she really had to say about it. She also addressed messages that had leaked during the broadcast -- which Erich had apparently sent to an ex-girlfriend right before joining the 'Bachelorette' cast, suggesting he was only interested in getting on TV to advance his career.

There, too, Gabby was easy on him ... saying she was expecting them to leak and encouraging Erich to be honest with her. Big picture, she says the behind-the-scenes drama was "a time for us to take a step back and reflect on our relationship and see if we can get through this."

Gabby adds, "You have to really lead on your communication, be really honest with each other while having these tough conversations. We're seeing how we can become better from both."

Lil Baby is feeling it from fans after he was spotted partying in Vegas, hours after canceling a show in Vancouver ... but he certainly didn't wanna talk about it.

Baby hit Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills with some friends Tuesday, and while we asked him several times about the incident from over the weekend, he only tried to deflect the attention elsewhere before eventually hitting an ice cream truck, where he ordered Flamin' Hot Funyons.

As we reported, Baby's fans in Vancouver went ballistic over the weekend, destroying property, when he pulled out of his performance at Breakout Festival. The rapper stated, "I have been going so hard these past few months without any breaks that it finally caught up with me."

However, he was seen just hours later partying in Vegas at Zouk Nightclub for Canelo Alvarez's victory over Gennady Golovkin with the likes of Travis Scott and DJ Drama.

Tiffany Haddish and Aries Spears are no longer fighting a child molestation lawsuit against them ... because we've learned the Jane Doe who filed suit has now dismissed it for good.

Per new court docs, obtained by TMZ, the plaintiff asked the judge to dismiss the case with prejudice ... meaning it cannot be refiled again. You'll recall the case involved allegations the 2 comedians groomed and molested 2 children several years ago.

The woman who sued both of them has also issued a statement, saying ... "My family and I have known Tiffany Haddish for many years – and we now know that she would never harm me or my brother or help anyone else do anything that could harm us. We wish Tiffany the best and are glad that we can all put this behind us."

The Jane Doe did not have anything to say about Aries in her remarks -- who was also accused of some pretty heinous stuff in the suit -- but he's also in the clear.

In the lawsuit, the alleged victim claimed both she and her younger brother were used by Tiffany and Aries to film scenes/skits that, when looking back, were wildly inappropriate -- and which Jane Doe suggested was meant to sexualize them.

Jane Doe alleged Tiffany had her film a scene where she simulated oral sex with a sandwich -- and also claimed her brother was used for a skit with Aries in which he was the subject of a pedophile's fantasy.

'RHOBH' Star Diana Jenkins just got a BIG green light in her hunt to find who was behind a racist Instagram attack -- a judge has granted her the ability to subpoena Meta, so she can hopefully identify the user who targeted her costar Garcelle Beauvais' son.

Court docs, obtained by TMZ, reveal the judge is allowing Diana to issue a subpoena to Meta and seek info they have on the accounts that recently sent hateful and threatening social media messages to Garcelle's 14-year-old, Jax.

As we reported, Diana was accused of instigating hate towards Garcelle's kid while the feud between them on the show was raging.

Diana denied any association with the comments, and even filed a lawsuit this month against the anonymous person or people she claims are behind the attack.

She went back to court last week with her legal team, claiming the real culprit created multiple Instagram accounts -- potentially over 20 of them -- to pull off the nasty campaign against Garcelle's son ... and asked the judge for permission to issue the subpoenas to Meta, which is Instagram's parent company.

Minnesota Timberwolves star Anthony Edwards has been fined $40K for making a homophobic comment, the NBA announced Tuesday morning.

"Minnesota Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards has been fined $40,000 for using offensive and derogatory language on social media. Edwards has acknowledged that his actions were inappropriate," Byron Spruell, President of League Operations for the NBA, wrote in a statement.

Edwards got himself into hot water when he posted video of several shirtless men embracing each other, saying ... "Look at these queer ass n****s, man. Look at the world I came to."

AE also captioned the video ... "Dese n****s different." In the background of the video, a woman was heard laughing while Edwards spoke.

There was almost immediate backlash and, as the league noted, the 21-year-old former first overall pick (2020 NBA Draft) seemed to offer a heartfelt apology for his actions, saying sorry on social media.

"What I said was immature, hurtful, and disrespectful, and I’m incredibly sorry. It’s unacceptable for me or anyone to use that language in such a hurtful way, there’s no excuse for it, at all. I was raised better than that!" the NBA star said.

But, the NBA clearly felt a fine was still in order.

Erica Banks can't afford to be seen at the club with girls who aren't on her level ... and by her standards, that means skinny, bad dressers who haven't been to the hair salon can stay home!!!

The 1501 Certified Ent. rapper was recently speaking to fans on Instagram Live about her female club friends' terms of agreement, and she's not ashamed to say she discriminates! Erica explains she nixes women from her entourage who aren't thick enough, or if they're too skinny.

Also, if you aren't red-carpet-ready with your fits, you need not apply.

Fans accused EB of being on a high horse with a sadiddy saddle ... especially after she infamously bragged about getting a BBL in the spring, but the "Buss It" rapper didn't budge on her stance.

The Texas native claimed the surgery didn't change anything (on the inside at least) while clinging to her right to pick her friends to her liking ... even if she's handpicking their attributes!

All hope isn't lost for the thin and underdressed -- Erica offered a conditional invitation for swag-challenged females to kick it with her, but only at album listening parties or cookouts.

LeBron James and Chris Paul aren't the only ones pissed off over Robert Sarver's suspension and fine -- you can add Draymond Green to the list, 'cause the NBA star called the punishment straight up "bulls**t!"

The Golden State Warrior forward went off on his podcast on Tuesday -- a week after the Phoenix Suns/Mercury owner was suspended for a year and fined $10 million for sexual harassment, use of the N-word, and inappropriate physical conduct toward male employees, among other alleged troubling behavior.

"This report that came out last week is the total opposite of everything the NBA stands for," Green said.

"To think that someone like Robert Sarver, acting in that manner, can continue to represent us, that's bulls**t!"

Green also ripped the notion Sarver's use of the N-word wasn't so bad because he didn't use it with racist or malicious intent.

"Stop it. That's ridiculous," Green emphatically said.

"The level of comfort you have to have to even use the word again does not validate or make it okay for Robert Sarver to use the N-word."

Green added, "This guy gets to just come back in the fold as if he's still representing us as if he's a part of us. That can't be so."

The 32-year-old says he's "very uncomfortable" knowing an owner like Sarver won't have to sell the team ... saying if the shoe were on the other foot, players would be "left out on our own to figure it out."

So, the four-time NBA champ came up with an idea ... vote Sarver out.

"What I would say is 'why don't we pose a vote?' Because that is definitely an offense that is probably grounds for being forced to sell."

Justin Trudeau is coming under fire for his singing ... despite hitting the notes, folks are calling him tone-deaf for partying during Canada's official mourning period for The Queen.

The Canadian Prime Minister was out at a London hotel, Saturday night -- just 2 days prior to Queen Elizabeth's funeral at Westminster Abbey ... and folks aren't too happy with his decision to put on an impromptu hotel lobby concert.

Trudeau was spotted standing over a piano and belting out "Bohemian Rhapsody" with other members of his delegation. You can hear him singing the lyrics "Easy come, easy go. Little high, little low" during the sing-along.

Of course, the PM and other world leaders are in town to pay their respects to Queen Elizabeth II and attend her funeral, which he did.

But, his weekend festivities kinda overshadowed his visit -- he even got boo'ed from folks who saw him after the video surfaced.

As we've reported, The Queen's funeral was held Monday morning and folks gathered in the UK streets and tuned in from all over the world for her procession and the service ... before Q2E was laid to rest alongside her late husband, Prince Philip.

Charlamagne Tha God is highlighting what he sees as hip hop hypocrisy in the wake of PnB Rock's murder last week.

As The Breakfast Club crew was discussing the home invasion/robbery of Tee Grizzley, Charlamagne spoke on how rappers tend to get sad when their fellow artists get killed and flood social media with 'RIP' messages -- but then continue supporting the same lifestyle and culture that got their homie killed in the first place.

Charlamagne says the unfortunate trend of murdered rappers should have made artists smarten up by now, and he's confused why that's not more apparent by now.

TMZ broke the story ... Tee's Los Angeles suburban home was broken into a couple of weeks ago and suspects made off with more than $1 million in jewelry -- in addition to the cash they stole.

Following the report, the Detroit-born rapper took to Instagram to reassure fans he was safe but urged rappers to be careful of the content of their music ... noting how bad juju could be spoken into existence on wax. He also advised rappers to speak in third-person or from the arc of a storyteller instead of making their lyrics direct with dirt.

Tee's recently released single "Robbery Part 4" plays out just like that ... it's a fictional tale that's more cinematic than reality.

He also asked the fans to pray for King Von and PnB's families ... the latter of who say they're having a hard time getting PnB's body back to Philly due to the open homicide investigation.

Von died in 2020 after being shot and killed in Atlanta and PnB was gunned down last week while eating with his girlfriend inside a Roscoe's Chicken & Waffles restaurant.

The Univ. of Oregon has issued an apology ... after some of its students were seen and heard chanting "f*** the Mormons" during the Ducks' game against BYU on Saturday.

The school released the mea culpa on social media on Sunday -- calling their fans' chants "offensive and disgraceful."

"These types of actions go against everything the university stands for, and it goes against the spirit of competition," the school said. "We can and will do better as a campus community that has no place for hate, bias or bigotry."

The chants broke out at Autzen Stadium in Eugene, Oregon following a Cougars touchdown in the second quarter of BYU's 41-20 loss ... with multiple people screaming the crass comments while clapping their hands.

Video shot by bystanders shows the chants were repeated at least one other time during the game.

Some fans in attendance were outraged -- and Utah's governor, Spencer Cox, slammed the Ducks supporters over it all following the game.

"Religious bigotry alive and celebrated in Oregon," he said on Twitter.

Cox later tweeted a heart emoji following Oregon's apology.

For its part, Oregon's student section -- dubbed the "Oregon Pit Crew" -- also tweeted an apology after the game, saying, "We do not condone or support any hateful speech directed towards one’s religion and are ashamed of those who participated."

Lil Baby caused a riot during Vancouver's Breakout Festival which isn't unusual as festivals go, except for the fact the headlining rapper was nowhere to be found onstage ... or anywhere at the venue!!!

Video shows fans utterly destroying sections of the PNE Amphitheater on Sunday after learning Baby had canceled his set last minute.

The scene began to resemble a war zone in some places ... with angry fans lighting tents on fire while others toppled food stands and garbage dumpsters.

At one point, the mob even infiltrated a tent, leaving no TV monitor standing ... with no regard for the shattered glass that was flung everywhere.

Baby was the top act for Sunday's show ... with fellow rappers Polo G, Cordae, Coi Leray, Babyface Ray and others as the backup and as you can see, was promoted heavily by the fest as being a big draw.

On Monday, Lil Baby let out a lengthy apology on IG ... saying his body gave out on him following his summer tour with Chris Brown, and begged the forgiveness of Vancouver, Breakout Fest and all the fans in attendance.

He should've added the cleanup crew to that list.

Ezra Miller allegedly thought of themselves as a Jesus figure -- and apparently ran with a posse of misfits while also retaining an arsenal fit for a small war ... this per a new bombshell exposé detailing what was going on surrounding their 2022 arrests.

Vanity Fair has a new piece out titled, "Ezra Miller's 'Messiah' Delusions: Inside The Flash Star's Dark Spiral" -- and it's as juicy and drama-filled as the headline suggests.

The story is bonkers ... claiming, through several unidentified sources who were purportedly in Ezra's inner circle these few years, that Ezra essentially ran a harem/convent of sorts at his Vermont ranch ... where they apparently have multiple firearms and other weapons.

People cited in the lengthy article describe bizarre rituals that Ezra would allegedly host -- touting themselves as a real-life superhero, akin to his fictional character of the Flash, and supposedly even had an altar at their home where they'd host sermons and burn sage.

One wild anecdote says Ezra went ballistic during one of these meetings, demanding that Susan Sarandon come to pay tribute at the altar for snubbing them from a dinner party.

The piece also describes Ezra as becoming more and more erratic as the pandemic was getting underway -- evidenced in the video of them apparently choking a woman in Iceland -- and completely spiraling in 2022 when they went to Hawaii with a young activist ... whose parents have alleged Ezra was controlling via insidious tactics, which the kid has denied.

VF's story details all sorts of out-there tales about things Ezra has allegedly done over the past few years -- outside of their legal issues, which are well-documented -- including wandering the streets in search of downtrodden young people to rope into their way of life, arming themselves to the teeth/having weapons sprawled out everywhere, tormenting those closest to them via diatribes/firings/scoldings and more. It's a disturbing deep dive, for sure.

Another fascinating aspect ... the notion that people close to Ezra say they question whether they're legitimately queer or not -- it's known Ezra publicly identifies as non-binary -- and even suggest they weaponize their identity when it suits them ... but seemingly not minding being misgendered in private when they're in a state of calm, behind closed doors.

BTW, speaking of Ezra's legal troubles -- Vanity Fair reports that a majority of those cases have virtually dissipated ... suggesting Ezra and/or their team have paid off most of their alleged victims, citing at least one NDA they viewed and others they've heard about.

Of course, the backdrop of all this is Ezra's movie, 'The Flash,' which they are apparently very interested in salvaging ... as is Warner Bros. Ezra has since said they're seeking treatment for mental health issues, and they apologized for their erratic behavior of late.

At this point, it sounds like Warner has decided to plow ahead with the release of this film in 2023 -- despite all the problems that have arisen ... which this story crystalizes quite well.

Viola Davis' new movie has sparked a fierce debate about Hollywood covering hard truths through a lens -- including slavery ... resulting in some calling for a boycott of this one.

"The Woman King" hit theaters this weekend, but almost as quickly as the hype for the flick started soaring ... the pushback also began -- with some calling for an outright shunning because of what they perceive as whitewashing the history of the subjects depicted.

The criticism ... the African tribe shown on screen, the Dahomey, as well as their all-female military regiment, the Agodjie, are presented as righteous, empowering liberators in all the marketing thus far ... when in reality, they were knee-deep in the Atlantic slave trade.

The record isn't pretty ... Dahomey was one of a handful of tribes in the 17th/18th/19th centuries that captured and sold off Black slaves to Europeans -- a means of trade they continued for a good while ... until the Brits actually forced them to stop in the mid-1800s.

The trailer doesn't allude to any of this whatsoever ... it just shows Viola training a new wave of recruits for the Agodjie and battling against what appear to be white colonizers in a showdown. Because of this, it seems, a good handful of folks are crying foul -- alleging the studio, Sony, is attempting to rewrite history and downplay the Dahomey's part in all this.

While some have made it clear they're against glorifying anyone who facilitated the slave trade, white or Black, and appear dead set on boycotting ... others are arguing people should see the film for themselves, saying it DOES in fact tackle the issue with nuance.

However, there've been some historians weighing in -- who are both educated on this subject and have seen the movie -- and they say ... yeah, 'TWK' does blur the lines a bit by making the Dahomey look more like victims of circumstance than willing participants.

We haven't seen it yet, so we can't say for sure what is or isn't shown. What we do know is that the reviews are glowing -- but many critics aren't showing their cards on this specific issue of the slave trade and how the Dahomey's relationship to it is handled in the movie.

With that said, it seems reasonable to have folks go see it with their own two eyes and make up their own minds. While it's within everyone's right to boycott/call for a boycott -- it seems sorta silly without having absorbed the material and debating it after the fact.

Gov. Gavin Newsom is flexing his pick-me muscles after challenging Gov. Ron DeSantis to a debate -- so much so, it's sad ... at least according to a dude famous for calling elections.

Political analyst and FiveThirtyEight founder Nate Silver -- who once correctly predicted the presidential outcomes in nearly all 50 states in the '08/'12 elections -- had some harsh words for Newsom Friday ... this after GN threw down the proverbial gauntlet against DeSantis.

After Dan Rather floated the idea -- Newsom piggybacked ... "Hey @GovRonDeSantis, clearly you're struggling, distracted, and busy playing politics with people’s lives. Since you have only one overriding need -- attention --let's take this up & debate. I’ll bring my hair gel. You bring your hairspray. Name the time before Election Day. @CNN."

The hair gel thing is in response to a crack RDS made about Newsom asking the DOJ to investigate the Martha's Vineyard stunt (more on that later) ... the Gov. clearly registered it.

Enter Silver ... whose political hot takes get noticed, and this one was no exception. He blasted Newsom, writing -- "Hard to think of more of a pot-calling-the-kettle-black situation than Gavin Newsom calling someone else attention-starved. Like DeSantis, he's trying to run a 2024 (presidential) campaign while dozens of his colleagues are in tight midterm races."

The dude's getting dragged for seemingly coming out in defense of DeSantis/on the attack against Newsom -- but on the issue of trying to soak in the spotlight and frame himself as a natural foil to the Florida Gov. ... Silver is not really wrong about Newsom here.

As we've seen over the past few months, Newsom has gone out of his way to troll DeSantis ... and has often name-dropped him in an effort to slam his policies in his state. Some political pundits say Newsom's ramping up for a presidential run -- and apparently thinks DeSantis will too, wanting to set the narrative early in a would-be matchup in 2024.

Of course, this latest dustup between them stems from a wild episode this week -- when Govs. DeSantis and Abbott dumped planes and busloads of Venezuelan migrants at both Martha's Vineyard and VP Kamala Harris' D.C. residence ... just to make a political point.

Those moves are now being labeled as outright kidnapping and human trafficking -- or at the very least ... using real people as pawns to score cheap headlines and outrage points.

Bill Maher begs to differ with the maxim, "There's no time like the present," because he says the past is being unfairly dragged.

Maher made a case against the concept of "presentism" -- making moral/ethical judgments about the conduct of people in the past based on current norms.

His argument is laced with some pretty hysterical jokes, like people who think they're better than George Washington because they have a gay friend and GW didn't. As he said, if GW were alive today, he'd probably have gay friends and if the people today were alive back then they wouldn't.

Now speaking of Washington -- whose legacy is tarnished by the fact he was a slave owner -- Maher tries to make the case that -- despite the fact slavery is horrendously wrong -- it has been the norm throughout history, pointing to the Egyptians, the Romans, the Greeks, the British ... and then he lands an hysterical joke, which you gotta watch.

As he put it half jokingly, human beings are generally terrible people.

Short story -- he thinks judging people from the past using current standards is stupid, and we shouldn't start altering, dismissing or ignoring history to conform to present values.

Stacey Abrams says there's a threat to democracy underway in her state of Georgia, and several others, due to laws making it harder for folks to vote -- which she believes tears at the very fabric of American democracy.

The voting rights activist is running for Governor in the Peach State and she joined us on "TMZ Live" Friday to discuss the roadblocks she says lawmakers are putting up for voters there.

Stacey says Georgia's incumbent, Gov. Brian Kemp, is on the record saying his frustration with how Georgians voted in the 2020 presidential and U.S. Senate elections -- flipping from red to blue -- prompted him to sign new laws ... which she says intentionally make it tougher for people to cast their votes.

There are growing concerns nationally about the GOP's full-court press to install Secretaries of State who could potentially certify an election for a candidate who actually lost at the polls -- but Stacey says voter suppression is an equal, if not greater, concern.

The way she sees it ... limiting ballots and people's access to voting is just another way to change election outcomes -- not as overt as rigging, but just as effective.

Stacey says Georgia is a prime example of these dynamics at work ... she says Georgia's Sec. of State, Brad Raffensperger, is getting credit for refusing to commit election fraud back in 2020, but she says he's a "very strong proponent of voter suppression."