Controversial S#!T

Elon Musk got into a big 'ol Twitter fight with Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, trading jabs over the billionaire's intent to charge verified users a fee to maintain their status on the social media platform.

Musk -- Twitter's new owner -- announced this week he would implement a policy charging an $8 monthly fee for users to keep their blue check badges to prove their accounts are authentic. He originally set the price at $20, but then lowered it. It's unclear when he plans to make the $8 fee official.

This didn't sit well with many critics and AOC, who sent out a flurry of Tweets Tuesday/Wednesday, giving Musk a piece of her mind.

"Lmao at a billionaire earnestly trying to sell people on the idea that 'free speech' is actually a $8/mo subscription plan," the New York congresswoman tweeted.

AOC followed up with another zinger ... "One guy's business plan for a $44 billion over-leveraged purchase is apparently to run around and individually ask people for $8. Remember that next time you question yourself or your qualifications."

She even complained that her Twitter notifications weren't working properly.

Musk then got into it with her. The Tesla/SpaceX boss tweeted a photo of an AOC sweatshirt selling on her website for $58, seemingly defending his $8 subscription fee by showing she, too, is trying to monetize her business.

But, the Democratic lawmaker wasn't having it, tweeting ... "My workers are union, make a living wage, have full healthcare, and aren’t subject to racist treatment in their workplaces. Items are made in USA."

Musk fired back ... "Your feedback is appreciated, now pay $8." AOC landed the last punch, though, declaring she had "gotten under a certain billionaire's skin" next to a laughing emoji.

Joshua Primo was cut by the Spurs after a team psychologist claimed he exposed himself during therapy sessions ... but sources close to the 19-year-old hooper are adamant he did absolutely nothing wrong.

Primo, the 12th overall pick in the 2021 draft and one of the youngest hoopers in the league, was released by San Antonio on Friday ... after he was accused of "multiple alleged instances of him exposing himself to women," according to an ESPN report.

But, sources close to Primo are insistent he never intentionally exposed his privates ... and if anything was visible at any time, it was strictly a wardrobe malfunction resulting from laying down on a couch in basketball shorts.

It's been documented ... JP had a rough childhood, and we're told the psychologist was helping him work through some personal issues ... so he'd almost always go to her office in shorts before or after practice or games.

The accuser's attorney has identified his client as Dr. Hillary Cauthen ... a performance therapist with the organization.

Our sources say Primo was shocked by the allegations ... and many in his circle feel he's a young guy who's being taken advantage of by a medical professional twice his age.

Shortly after he was released, Primo released a statement addressing the shocking news.

"I know that you all are surprised by today’s announcement. I’ve been seeking help to deal with previous trauma I suffered and will now take this time to focus on my mental health treatment more fully."

The former Alabama star continued ... "I hope to be able to discuss these issues in the future so I can help others who have suffered in a similar way. I appreciate privacy at this time."

As for the Spurs, Gregg Popovich's squad hasn't addressed the allegations ... but did issue a statement after parting ways with Primo, saying, "It is our hope that, in the long run, this decision will serve the best interest of both the organization and Joshua."

Primo played in 50 games as a rookie last season ... averaging 5.8 points, 2.3 rebounds, and 1.6 assists. He appeared in 4 games this season before being cut.

The accuser has hired Tony Buzbee -- the attorney who represented many of Deshaun Watson's accusers -- and the two are scheduled to hold a news conference Thursday in Texas where they're expected to expand on the allegations for the first time.

Primo has received a demand letter from the accuser's attorney, according to our sources, but a lawsuit has not been filed. Josh has not been charged with any crime.

DJ Akademiks is calling out anyone defending today's hip hop culture -- on the heels of Takeoff's slaying -- because he says the culture's adopted too many street ethos.

Ak went live on Twitch for over 3 hours Wednesday morning ... going over key facts in the Houston case, identifying people on the scene and venting his overall frustration with the culture.

He grew particularly emotional when folks in his chat floated the idea the streets might retaliate against him for his "research" into the killing. That set him OFF ... Ak screamed at the top of his lungs against what he feels hip hop culture has become.

Ak cited controversial blogger Charleston White ... agreeing that criminality in hip hop culture needed to be flushed and most rappers are doing dumb things with their spare time.

A particularly chilling moment on the broadcast came when Ak was connecting dots to the armed man police call a "person of interest' -- matching his clothing to an entourage member who had been hanging with Quavo and Jas Prince hours before they arrived at the bowling alley that night.

TMZ Hip Hop broke the story ... new video we obtained shows a man with his hand on a gun in his pocket mere seconds before the shooting started.

The hypocrites continued to grow under Ak's skin as he continued to call them out for "cosplaying as street n*****."

He used incarcerated rappers YNW Melly, Kay Flock and Tay-K as examples ... citing fans' who wish for their freedom in spite of their looming murder charges and further railed against the fusion of Black culture and criminality.

Former NBA star Amar'e Stoudemire -- who converted to Judaism in 2020 -- wants Kyrie Irving to own up to his actions and apologize for tweeting out a link to a movie filled with antisemitic rhetoric ... saying the Brooklyn Nets guard made a mistake.

STAT addressed the controversy surrounding Irving on ESPN’s "Get Up" Wednesday morning ... saying, "You have to give an apology because if you’re going to promote a documentary that has false allegations inside of it, and you may not understand that these allegations that’s inside the documentary are false, okay, you made a mistake, right? So apologize for it."

39-year-old Stoudemire says Kyrie created a problem by not expressing any regret over the situation ... and is giving the NBA and commissioner Adam Silver no choice but to look into it.

"I think something has to happen, intensive conversations with the commissioner about what he’s doing and what his plans are as a basketball player."

As for whether Kyrie should be suspended over the whole ordeal, Amar'e -- who previously served as an assistant for the Nets -- is on the fence.

"I mean, Kyrie’s a guy who’s trying to find himself," he added. "He’s always on this quest for learning and information. And if you’re not totally understanding what you’re learning and what you’re trying to promote, then just don’t promote it. Just learn quietly and try to figure it out."

"But once you start putting information out there that’s not true, then now it creates a problem."

Amar'e has gone after Irving in the past ... saying the guard's decision to not get the COVID-19 vaccine affected the team's chemistry.

Irving has been at the center of criticism for how he's handled the backlash ... with both Charles Barkley and Shaquille O'Neal calling him an "idiot" on TNT's "Inside The NBA."

Nike -- Kyrie's biggest sponsor -- released a statement regarding the matter ... denouncing hate speech of any kind.

"At Nike, we believe there is no place for hate speech, and we condemn any form of antisemitism," the Swoosh said on Tuesday.

TMZ Sports spoke with Amar'e about antisemitism back in 2020 ... when the six-time All-Star told us he wanted to "bridge the gap" between Black and Jewish people after comments made by Nick Cannon and NFLer DeSean Jackson -- for which they apologized.

Charles Barkley says the NBA flubbed its handling of the most recent Kyrie Irving drama ... explaining Tuesday night he believes the league should've suspended the Nets star over his controversial tweet.

Barkley didn't mince words while talking about the situation on "Inside the NBA" -- calling Irving an "idiot" ... and blasting the Association for not dropping the hammer on the point guard.

"I think Adam [Silver] should have suspended him," Barkley said. "First of all, Adam is Jewish -- you can’t take my $40 million and insult my religion. You gonna insult me, you have the right, but I have the right to say, ‘You can’t take my $40 million and insult my religion.'"

"I think the NBA, they made a mistake."

Of course, Silver did not level punishment on Irving ... despite the basketball player tweeting out a link to "Hebrews to Negroes: Wake Up Black America," a movie packed with antisemitic rhetoric.

Irving never apologized for sharing it ... and, in fact, two days after sending the tweet, he got into a tiff with a reporter who had suggested he had been "promoting" the film on his platform.

Irving did, though, eventually take down the tweet. He also said in a separate tweet he is not antisemitic.

But, Barkley's co-host, Shaq, had issues with it all as well ... calling Irving an "idiot" too.

Meanwhile, during TNT's broadcast of the Nets vs. Bulls game ... Reggie Miller, who was commentating the game, said he was disappointed there was not a vocal outcry from players in the league over it all.

Kanye West has folks trying to help him regain billionaire status via crowdfunding -- but his haters have responded with just as much passion.

Here's the deal ... at least one GoFundMe page (possibly more) popped up this week with the goal of making Kanye a billionaire again, soliciting donations ... apparently carried out by people who felt he'd been done dirty amid his antisemitism.

It doesn't sound like any of those campaigns were successful ... reportedly only making a few bucks before they were taken down entirely. More on why they were yanked later.

In response to that nonsense ... even more silliness. Ye haters have rallied in opposition with their own GFMs that are apparently trying to keep him from hitting 10-digits with an interesting strategy -- namely, asking that *they* be made billionaires instead. 😅

The pages are popping up en masse, it seems, with tons of people laying out their logic as ... hey, Kanye sucks and he doesn't deserve to be a billionaire again, but I sure do!!!

Like we said, it's all pretty goofy ... but the fact these GoFundMes are being created as quickly and widely as they are -- from different parts of the world -- just speaks to how angry Kanye has made folks in the wake of his controversial remarks/fall from grace.

FWIW, these new anti-Ye pages are falling flat. None have raised more than $25, and a majority are in the $5 - $6 range.

In other words, Kanye's fans and haters alike have a better chance of winning the lottery than striking it rich from donations. Sources familiar tell TMZ ... GFM's terms of service may explain why the pro-Kanye campaigns were yanked and the anti-Ye ones are still live.

A dazed Hope Solo was yanked from her car by cops after being uncooperative during her DWI arrest earlier this year ... new police video shows.

The footage -- obtained by Queen City News -- was captured on a Winston-Salem Police Officer's body-worn camera on March 31 ... just after he was called to a North Carolina Walmart parking lot over reports that a woman had been asleep behind the wheel of a running car with her kids inside.

Video shows when the officer walked up to the GMC Yukon at around 10:20 PM, Solo -- a U.S. women's soccer legend -- appeared to be passed out with her head resting on her driver's seat while her engine was on.

Solo immediately became alert following the officer's knock on her window -- and during ensuing questioning, she appeared to be completely out of it.

She mumbled, scrolled through her phone and even took a call. She insisted she hadn't been drinking -- and had only stopped to take a nap because she was tired.

The officer, though, suspected she was drunk -- and told her he smelled alcohol coming from her vehicle. She then began arguing with the man and another officer who had arrived on the scene to assist.

The cops asked her to step out of her car repeatedly, but she refused. Her kids, meanwhile, could be heard screaming and crying in the background.

Ultimately, one of the cops grabbed her by the arm and pulled her from the ride.

Footage shows Solo continued to be combative, refusing field sobriety tests. Cops then put her in handcuffs. She could be heard later in the video yelling while walking with an officer, "Oh my God, you don't need to f***ing touch me!"

Solo was eventually hit with three charges over the case -- driving while impaired, resisting a public officer and misdemeanor child abuse.

In July, she reached a deal with prosecutors to close out the case -- pleading guilty to DWI. In exchange for the plea, her other two charges were dismissed.

Solo was given a 24-month suspended sentence ... and was also ordered to pay fines and fees, among other stipulations.

Following the case's disposition, she said in a statement, "I underestimated what a destructive part of my life alcohol had become."

"I continue to be a student of the greatest school called life and I will continue to learn and grow from these experiences," she added. "I will continue to gain empathy, knowledge, and stories to share."

The Donda Academy basketball team continues to pay for Kanye West's actions -- the squad will no longer be playing in a tournament at Morehouse College due to his recent antics.

The Donda Doves were originally scheduled to play against The Skill Factory in Atlanta on Nov. 6 ... but given the controversy surrounding West, the host decided to pull the plug on the whole thing.

A spokesperson for Morehouse says the school "cannot condone, in perception or implication, the recent divisive and unproductive statements by Ye, formerly known as Kanye West."

Of course, Morehouse's decision isn't going to sit well with Celtics star Jaylen Brown, who has publicly advocated against Donda hoops players being affected due to Kanye's words.

Brown -- who parted ways with Donda Sports agency last week -- recently said that he will sponsor any event willing to host the team.

"This can’t negatively impact these student-athletes," Brown said. "We all must ensure they complete their senior yr both academically & athletically."

Although Donda's men's basketball team hasn't officially been scrapped ... it seems imminent since they have little to no games scheduled, and organized practices have been limited.

Twitter is now on a rollercoaster ride, courtesy of its new owner Elon Musk ... and technology columnist Kevin Roose says the ride could lead to a whole new app within a matter of days.

Kevin joined "TMZ Live" to forecast the bird app's future on the heels of a wild weekend brought on by Musk himself -- his retweeting an unsubstantiated Paul Pelosi conspiracy theory is raising major concerns about how much misinformation he's going to allow.

Political consequences aside, Roose says there could be a lot of financial fallout from Elon's early moves.

He believes Elon's Pelosi tweet signals there will be a constant tug-of-war between Twitter being a free speech forum ... and one that regulates misinformation and hate speech -- and that battle will impact advertising revenue.

Kevin notes ... advertisers generally don't love placement next to toxic content, and after dropping $44 billion for the platform, Elon needs it thrive as a biz.

As for Twitter's employees ... Kevin says big-time layoffs are expected this week, and Elon's already booted all of Twitter's previous executives and board members.

D.L. Hughley's got some strong words for Kanye West, and believes the only thing preventing Kanye from being in a conservatorship is his gender.

D.L. told his truth at LAX Monday, he thinks Kanye's gone off the rails, and believes his actions alone should be enough reason to put him in a conservatorship. The actor points out Britney Spears and Wendy Williams, saying if a woman was making the same claims as Kanye, she'd be put under court-ordered protection.

D.L. says he doesn't understand why Ye would compare himself to George Floyd or Emmett Till -- both things KW posted about over the weekend on Instagram, before getting silenced on the platform once again.

Kanye took to Parler, claiming he got a 30-day ban from IG after posting a text exchange between him and Russell Simmons ... one where he said he wants to "get the Jewish business people to make the contracts fair, or die trying."

FYI -- a spokesperson for Meta tells us they deleted content from Ye's account for violating their policies and put a restriction on his account. Restrictions can be placed when users repeatedly break the rules on the platform ... which can include an inability to post, comment and even send DMs.

Ex-NBA player Eric Bledsoe was in great spirits at the Clippers game on Sunday ... just days after he was arrested for allegedly slapping his girlfriend.

32-year-old Bledsoe -- who played for the Clips from 2010-13 and the 2021-22 season -- was smiling from ear to ear as he sat courtside at Crypto.com Arena to check out his old team against the New Orleans Pelicans.

It wasn't a great outing for the Clippers -- they lost 112-91.

TMZ Sports broke the story -- Bledsoe was arrested in Lost Hills, CA Wednesday night after his girlfriend called cops and claimed she was slapped.

The arrest came just hours after it was reported Bledsoe was set to sign with the Shanghai Sharks in the Chinese Basketball Association.

As we previously reported, the girlfriend posted about the altercation on Instagram ... calling Bledsoe a "monster."

The post was deleted shortly after.

It's unclear whether the arrest will have an impact on Bledsoe's future -- the Sharks have yet to comment on the situation.

Patriots owner Robert Kraft sponsored an ad Sunday ... asking people watching NFL games to "stand up to Jewish hate" in the wake of Kanye West's antisemitic comments.

The Foundation to Combat Antisemitism (FCAS) released the 30-second ad during the first quarter of the Patriots-Jets game ... "calling attention to the concerning rise of antisemitism."

The org. -- which Kraft founded intending to forge positive relationships with Jews and non-Jews -- expressed in the commercial that they need more people to condemn antisemitism.

"With the recent rise in conversations about antisemitism on social media, FCAS launched #StandUpToJewishHate, encouraging Jews and non-Jews alike to speak out against hatred and stand with the Jewish community," the org.'s website read.

The timing of Kraft's ad was strategic ... and comes as Kanye continues to face backlash over the antisemitic remarks he's repeatedly made in interviews.

Kanye has seen several high-profile companies part ways with him -- such as Adidas and Balenciaga. Pro athletes Aaron Donald and Jaylen Brown also left his sports agency.

Ye isn't the only celeb who's found himself in hot water -- over the weekend, Kyrie Irving was involved in a heated spat with a reporter about a controversial movie he shared on Twitter.

Irving tweeted a link to a film on Amazon called ... "Hebrews to Negroes: Wake Up Black America," which claims to expose who the real "chosen people of God" are.

Nets owner Joe Tsai publicly criticized the Nets' superstar point guard ... and condemned him for promoting the movie on his platform.

Kanye West is on a new tear -- suggesting what happened to Emmett Till is what's happening to him as he falls from grace ... this while trying to get Ari Emanuel's attention.

New posts have been popping up on Ye's IG page of late -- ever since he was reinstated -- but a string of troubling thoughts are cropping up Sunday ... including the notion that he's going through a modern-day "lynching," presumably at the hands of the ex-WME chief.

KW writes, "Ari Emmanuel Can you find a place for the Donda Academy kids to go to school that’s properly zoned for a school? I got about 60 children that have no place to be as they look to transfer. They tried to dismantle our basketball team. Those boys are being penalized without reason. Even professional athletes were threatened by their owners to disassociate."

He goes on to say that the treatment he's receiving -- essentially being cancelled -- is what "post social media #Blackmirror warfare looks like," adding that Donda kids are suffering.

Kanye then insinuates he's suffering an "Economic Lynching," a "Digital Lynching" and a bankruptcy of his "Social Credit Score." Finally, what sure sounds like another antisemitic jab ... "You tried to bankrupt adidas and me at the same time. You tried to destroy my life after all the money I’ve made for the 'business' people. At least as I burn to the stake in front of the whole world… // everyone now knows who they need to really be afraid of."

He finishes by saying, "And now eeeeveryone knows how much power you 'Business' people actually have." There's a lot more to the rant, but it's rambling and incoherent. Now, Kanye seems to be invoking Ari because the guy publicly asked companies to stop doing business with Kanye amid his ongoing antisemitic remarks -- and it appears to have worked.

Kanye went on to post a screengrab of a conversation he was having with someone named Russell, initials "RS" ... who's encouraging him to simmer down, strategize and find a better way to vent his frustrations. Ye fires back, though, with a weird reply -- saying he needs to get the "Jewish business people" to make contracts fair ... or die trying. That post has since been deleted, BTW, but of course ... it was captured and lives on the internet.

Machine Gun Kelly and Megan Fox took their Tommy Lee and Pamela Anderson costumes to the extreme -- recreating a wild, whirlwind romance ... and it's pretty on the nose.

The rocker and actress dressed up as the iconic couple for Halloween this weekend ... rocking their famed 1995 look from when they attended the grand opening for Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Vegas, with Pam/Meg in a pink dress and Tommy/MGK in a tank top.

They went to the Casamigos party looking like this, which is all fine and good -- but a video Kelly posted Saturday is stirring controversy ... namely, a clip of him snorting a powdery substance off MF's chest with a rolled dollar bill. He licks her boob and kisses her afterward.

The so-called "cocaine" is probably fake, but nonetheless ... there's a good amount of people online who expressed shock he would film himself doing this, even if it is a gag.

It doesn't seem like he or Megan really care  ... his caption telegraphs as much. It reads, "happy Halloween virgins." Frankly, this fits their MO as a couple -- tons of shock value stunts, including confessions about drinking each other's blood and whatnot.

The bigger issue though, in this particular instance, is MGK's younger fan base -- including teens who might be susceptible to seeing him partake in something objectively bad for you.

Of course, both Machine Gun Kelly and Megan Fox each have young children of their own ... so there's that too.

Elon Musk used his new social media platform to perpetuate an unfounded conspiracy theory about the Paul Pelosi attack -- and he did it in response to Hillary Clinton, no less.

The Twitter chief replied to a tweet HC sent Saturday that condemned the attack on the Speaker's husband, while also calling out the extreme rhetoric of some Republicans and pundits ... which she believes is largely responsible for the incident.

Elon chimed in Sunday, saying there may be more to the story than meets the eye ... adding a link to a fringe site that uploaded a salacious article/headline regarding Pelosi and his attacker. It's based on a conspiracy theory that's caught fire in conservative circles.

The theory -- and the unsubstantiated article -- claims Paul's attacker was no stranger ... but rather, that they had a prior relationship and that things went south during a meetup. Again, there's been no evidence to support this claim whatsoever ... and yet, Elon leaned into it.

He has since deleted the incendiary tweet ... but the damage is done, because he's getting slammed left and right for putting out wild rumors -- this as the literal executive of Twitter.

One of the people who are tearing him to shreds over this is Jimmy Kimmel ... who wrote, "it has been interesting, over the years, to watch you blossom from the electric car guy into a fully-formed piece of s*** @elonmusk."

It's worth noting, for the record, that SFPD has characterized this as nothing more than a break-in/assault on Pelosi -- and they even say they witnessed the attacker, David DePape, strike Paul on the head with a hammer before they tackled and arrested him.

As we reported ... Paul made a secret call to 911 while facing off with DePape and spoke in code to the operator to not agitate the guy, while also relaying he was in danger. DePape allegedly asked "Where's Nancy?" several times ... but she wasn't home at the time.

A new report Sunday claims that DePape was also equipped with a bag of zip ties -- so who knows what more could've happened if Paul hadn't alerted the authorities when he did.

Speaker Pelosi, for her part, says her husband is recovering after undergoing surgery ... while also noting she and the rest of their family are traumatized. Reports have surfaced since saying DePape has shared far-right, bigoted conspiracies on his blog ... right up to the attack.

Blueface's girlfriend, Chrisean Rock, appears to have accused him of domestic violence -- capturing the alleged aftermath on camera ... and it echoes of Rihanna and Chris Brown.

CR started an Instagram Live Saturday night that shows her breaking down and complaining following some sort of altercation she says went down in the car -- one she alleges resulted in her getting hit in the face, and being left bloodied.

Chrisean never points the camera at whoever it is she's talking to, and never really names anyone specific either ... but based on the voice on the other end and the back and forth they're having on Twitter right now -- it seems to be Blueface whom she claims did this.

The footage is upsetting ... Chrisean is visibly shaken and cries at multiple points in her clips -- which have since been scrubbed from her page. She tells the man she's talking to that he's "too comfortable" and alleges he struck her because she was texting another guy.

At one point, Chrisean defends herself against somebody accusing her of being suicidal. Sounds like she might've tried exiting the vehicle as it was moving after whatever happened ... but she insists she isn't, and just wanted to remove herself from the sitch.

Chrisean posted a photo showing off alleged injuries that she claims she sustained from this -- including a busted lip, bloody nose and a black eye. She's deleted that post too, though.

We've called around L.A. to see if any police reports were taken over this or if anyone was arrested -- but neither appears to have happened yet. On the bird app, Blueface and Chrisean are chirping at each other ... with Chrisean repeating lines she mentioned in the video, including calling Blueface a "weird ass n****," among other cryptic tweets about anger.

As you can imagine, a lot of her fans are devastated over this ... believing she may be the victim of DV and pleading with her to report this and, more importantly, to leave Blueface.

Violence has erupted between and around them several times before ... which is exactly why Lizzo's costume of Chrisean was found not to be funny by many. Namely, a good amount of folks believe she's on a dangerous life path with this guy ... and encouraging/mocking their toxic behavior (even in jest) isn't the move, especially by a mainstream celeb.

Ditto for a reality show documenting their obviously turbulent life together. We've reached out to Blueface's camp ... they had no comment.