Controversial S#!T

Gene Smith, the athletic director for Ohio State University, has issued a formal apology to a Michigan State hockey player ... after a Buckeyes forward was accused of hurling racial slurs at the man during a game earlier this month.

According to Spartans forward Jagger Joshua, who is Black, the racist incidents happened on Nov. 11 -- when OSU visited East Lansing and lost 4-3.

Joshua did not reveal specifically what was said to him on the ice, but he did note in a Twitter post on Monday that he was livid over "the inaction" taken by Ohio State and the Big Ten in wake of the racial abuse.

"Acts of racism do not belong in hockey, as they can discourage African Americans and minorities like myself from playing and loving the game," Joshua said in his social media post. "Inaction in the face of racist comments and actions allow these behaviors to continue."

Late Tuesday night, Smith apologized to Joshua over it all in a lengthy statement ... and said the player who was accused of using the slurs, Kamil Sadlocha, "is returning home and will not practice or compete at this time."

"On behalf of Ohio State University, I am so sorry," Smith said. "No student or student-athlete should experience hatred or racism, and everyone should feel welcome."

"I have spoken with Michigan State athletic director Alan Haller, and I'm thankful Jagger is getting the support he needs."

In his statement, Smith said he has met with the OSU hockey team and will meet with them again over the incident. He promised that players "will complete education on racial sensitivity, diversity, equity, inclusion, and the use of respectful dialog."

"The department and I will support them through this important process," he added.

Kanye West paraded nude photos of Kim Kardashian around the Adidas offices to staffers ... this according to former employees themselves.

Some staffers who used to work at Adidas -- assigned to the Yeezy division -- told Rolling Stone Ye showed them graphic pics of his then-wife.

One employee says Kanye showed him an explicit picture of Kim during a 2018 job interview, with KW allegedly pulling out his phone and saying, "My wife just sent me this." He goes on to say the image was super revealing and personal.

Another staffer claims Kanye showed the Yeezy creative team an explicit video of Kim that same year. Another member of that team confirmed it, telling RS Kanye wasn't afraid to show off explicit material or talk about personal matters that should've been kept private.

Some of the staffers signed an open to higher-ups at Adidas, titled "The Truth About Yeezy: A Call to Action for Adidas Leadership," in which they accused the company of turning a blind eye to abhorrent behavior.

Ye showing off NSFW material isn't that far-fetched -- the guy was filmed showing off porn to an Adidas exec for an in-house doc that aired earlier this year. You can tell the dude is shocked and uncomfortable, but Kanye insists they keep watching from his device.

Since then, Kanye has admitted to an addiction to porn ... saying he'd beat it by turning to God and declaring he'd protect his children from the same vice that once consumed him.

Jordin Sparks says American Music Awards execs screwed up when they pulled the plug on Chris Brown, and much like Kelly Rowland ... she's shocked there's still debate about whether he belongs at these events.

We got the singer outside ABC Studios this week in NYC, and she thinks Chris has been one of the best in the game for a while now, and absolutely should've been at the AMAs ... to perform and to receive the trophy he won.

As you know, Chris told fans the AMAs canceled his Michael Jackson tribute, and while producers still haven't offered a reason ... Jordin seems to think it stemmed from him beating Rihanna back in 2009.

Granted, Jordan might be slightly biased -- she and Chris had a huge 2008 hit with "No Air" -- but she says that incident "shouldn't even be a conversation anymore" ... and Chris' massive talent should be the focus.

As we reported, Kelly had Chris' back the second boos started popping up in the AMAs crowd, as she announced him as the winner for Favorite Male R&B artist -- thanking him for his contribution to music.

We got Kelly the day after the AMAs, and she gave us some pretty powerful remarks about Chris and the haters. Similar to what Kelly said, Jordin says everyone deserves the chance to "grow and learn" without the past hanging over them.

Clearly, lots of people don't agree, but Jordin's not shy about backing Chris.

The Arizona Cardinals reportedly fired their offensive line coach/running game coordinator for groping a woman in Mexico City ... just hours before the team played against the 49ers.

ESPN, citing sources, reported Wednesday morning Sean Kugler was accused of inappropriately touching a female on Sunday night. The outlet reports Mexican authorities were made aware of the allegations, and then told the Cardinals of it all. Kugler was fired a short time later and sent back to Arizona on Monday morning.

The Cards had arrived in Mexico on Saturday night for the big game against S.F. on Monday. The team went on to lose the contest, 38-10.

Arizona officials have yet to confirm the report ... in announcing the firing on Tuesday, head coach Kliff Kingsbury would only say Kugler had been involved in an off-field "incident."

Kugler had been on the Cardinals' staff since 2019.

A top H.S. quarterback recruit's use of the n-word will not spell the end of his football career ... so says ex-NFL star Jamal Anderson, who tells TMZ Sports he's confident the teen will get another scholarship offer.

Marcus Stokes -- a four-star athlete from Allen D. Nease High School in Florida -- had his full ride to the Univ. of Florida pulled on Sunday ... after he posted a video of himself rapping the n-word in his car.

He apologized for it all, calling it "hurtful and offensive to many people" -- but some have wondered if it, and the Gators' subsequent punishment for it, would mean he'd no longer have a chance to play college ball anymore.

When we got Anderson out at LAX this week, he told us he's sure another school will give him another shot ... saying, "Man, he's a kid still."

"You've got to have time to grow and make mistakes and learn and make amends for the mistakes that you make," the former Atlanta Falcons running back said. "So, I wish him all the best and I hope that it all works out for him."

Anderson tells us Stokes' coaches, teammates, friends and peers will help him rebound from it all ... explaining if those around him continue to report he had no racist intentions with his actions, it'll be easier to forgive.

"When you look at the reports of the people that actually know him," Anderson said, "The people that are actually around him, there's nothing like that."

Drag queen Eureka O'Hara says discrimination and propaganda are behind the recent attacks on gay bars ... and she wants the hateful rhetoric to stop, because queer people aren't going away, ever.

We got the "RuPaul's Drag Race" star Tuesday at LAX, and our photog asked what can be done to prevent these types of attacks, like the gay nightclub massacre in Colorado Springs.

Eureka says people with ill will towards queer people need to be educated, especially on the trans community -- she says the LGBTQ agenda has nothing to do with straight people or their kids, they just want to live their lives like everyone else and coexist.

As we reported ... Richard Fierro, an Army vet subdued the gunman who killed 5 people Saturday night at Club Q -- charging the shooter and pulling him down to the ground until other club-goers stepped in to help.

Eureka says trans and queer people have been forced to defend themselves forever, and refuse to just take it when someone comes after them.

In addition to 'Drag Race' ... Eureka also stars on HBO's drag series "We're Here," and suggests people sit down with their families to watch the upcoming third season to not only get educated on trans people, but also relate with them.

A Texas school district is investigating claims that disgusting, racist noises were made toward a Black female basketball player during a H.S. game over the weekend ... after the student section appeared to make monkey sounds as she shot free throws.

The alleged incident went down during East Central's matchup against Marble Falls on Friday ... when EC senior Asia Prudhomme was lined up at the charity stripe.

Students in attendance can be heard on video shouting during Prudhomme's free throws ... seemingly imitating monkeys.

Prudhomme shared the clip on social media after the game ... saying, "This is sad, heartbreaking and uncalled for."

"Can't even play basketball without ignorance and racism in the stands. This really broke my heart, my coaches and teammates."

ECHS athletic director Suzette Arriola told WFAA Marble Falls officials were alerted about the students' actions ... but no one was removed from the game.

Arriola also claims the noises were made several other times throughout the game.

Marble Falls announced Monday an investigation is underway.

"Marble Falls School District has an unyielding commitment to love every child and inspire them to achieve their fullest potential, and this applies to children outside of our school district as well."

"We will continue to work with administration at East Central High to fully investigate and hold students accountable for their actions."

Elon Musk's Content Moderation Council will be nothing more than a paper tiger, because the Chief Twit himself told his staff ... the ultimate power on what goes on the platform and what doesn't rests squarely with him.

New video obtained by TMZ shows Elon talking to bird app staffers Saturday in a company Zoom chat. At one point, EM touched on the Council he promised late last month.

Watch ... Elon says there will, in fact, be a Council -- but he makes it clear it's advisory only ... he will pick the members and can either accept or reject their advice ... he'll make the call.

Since announcing the Council -- which was seemingly meant to calm the waters with folks concerned about misinformation/hate speech on the platform -- Elon has made A LOT of sporadic decisions about how Twitter will work, and who gets to tweet.

He's suspended users and then reinstated them, seemingly on a whim. Over the weekend he asked users to vote on whether Donald Trump should be reinstated -- a slim majority turned thumbs up and Elon gave the green light for his return.

Two points -- first, Elon never said he'd adhere to the will of the majority ... and that's consistent with his view of the Council. Second, Trump has said he'll decline the invitation, but the reality is ... he'll almost certainly return because that's where he can reach voters.

Kelly Rowland says it's beyond time for the public to treat Chris Brown the same as anyone else who royally screws up -- and, yes, she believes that includes forgiving him for beating Rihanna.

We got the 'Destiny's Child' singer in WeHo Monday and asked about her American Music Awards moment -- when she scolded a booing crowd pissed about Chris' win, and then sang his praises.

Check out KR's remarks to our photog, 'cause they're pretty powerful. She says everyone is worthy of second chances, and that we all need a dose of humility ... especially amid our own transgressions. Essentially, it's the Golden Rule she's advocating for here.

Kelly also suggests folks oughta bask in the good, rather than fervently looking to cast stones at every turn -- especially when related to events almost 14 years old, like Chris' Rihanna incident.

In the end, Kelly thinks we all come up short at one point or another -- and we all deserve to start over again.

Soccer reporter Grant Wahl says World Cup security guards detained him for nearly half an hour on Monday morning ... and it was all because of a rainbow shirt he was wearing.

Wahl showed up to Ahmed bin Ali Stadium in Qatar for the United States' first tournament game against Wales -- and in order to show his support for the LGBTQ+ community in a country where homosexuality is illegal, he wore a shirt with a soccer ball and a rainbow pattern.

Almost immediately after getting to the venue, though, Wahl says security stopped him over the tee -- and demanded he removes it.

"You have to change your shirt," he said one guard told him. "It's not allowed."

The 47-year-old says he refused -- and sent out a quick tweet before he claims guards then took his phone and detained him for roughly 25 minutes.

"One security guard told me that my shirt was 'political' and not allowed," Wahl said. "Another continually refused to give me back my phone. Another guard yelled at me as he stood above me -- I was sitting on a chair by now -- that I had to remove my shirt."

Ultimately, Wahl says a security commander showed up and apologized, and let him into the stadium. Wahl says a rep for FIFA said sorry as well.

Kelly Rowland wasn't having the boos when she announced Chris Brown's win at the AMAs ... telling the haters in the audience to settle down.

The 'Destiny's Child' singer announced Chris was the winner for Favorite Male R&B Artist. As soon as she mentioned his name, you could hear a smattering of boos in the crowd. Kelly shut that down hard.

Chris said on social Saturday the AMAs canceled his Michael Jackson tribute but never explained why. Seems like a safe bet ... that's why Chris was a no-show at the ceremony.

As for Kelly, she heaped praise on Chris ... thanking him for his contribution to music.

Brown has become a lightning rod in the music industry and beyond, all emanating from beating Rihanna back in 2009. Although Rihanna quickly forgave him, many fans did not. The conventional wisdom is that Chris would have soared to much greater heights but for the brutal assault.

One person is clearly still in his corner ... Kelly Rowland.

Disney+ customers tuning in to watch Elton John from the comfort of their couch got some unwanted politics mixed in with their music ... all thanks to an apparent hack of the streaming service's closed captioning feature.

Viewers reported on several occasions the name "Donald Trump" mixed in with the captioned lyrics during Sunday night's live broadcast. It appears to have happened during the songs "Levon" and "Candle in the Wind."

One Twitter user wrote, "Disney will be firing someone. They snuck Donald Trump into the closed captioning of the Elton John Live concert for about 30 seconds and then started to delete it." Another said, "The caption on this Elton John concert said “Donald Trump” for like a full minute.

The show, from Dodgers Stadium, marked the last of the U.S. leg of Elton's farewell tour, before he hits Europe and other parts of the world. Elton was also joined by Dua Lipa and Kiki Dee during the event.

One of the best high school football players in the country had his Florida scholarship offer pulled this weekend ... after he was seen on video rapping the n-word.

Marcus Stokes posted the quick, two-second clip on his social media page last week -- appearing to show the quarterback recruit singing, "Welcome back, n***a."

Almost immediately afterward, the Nease H.S. athlete, who's white, received backlash for it ... and on Sunday, the Univ. of Florida made the decision to pull their offer from him.

Stokes had been committed to attending the school since early July.

"I was in my car listening to rap music, rapping along to the words and posted a video of it on social media," Stokes explained on his Twitter page on Sunday.

"I deeply apologize for the words in the song that I chose to say. It was hurtful and offensive to many people, and I regret that."

Stokes continued, "I fully accept the consequences for my actions, and I respect the University of Florida's decision to withdraw my scholarship offer to play football."

Stokes had a great junior season at Nease -- but struggled in his senior season this year. Still, the 6-foot-1, 190-pound dual-threat QB was rated a four-star recruit by 247Sports ... and the 14th-ranked signal-caller in the nation.

Stokes had received offers from several other schools -- including Penn State, Pittsburgh and Virginia Tech -- during his H.S. career ... though it's unclear if those scholarship offers now still stand.

The World Cup teams expecting to wear rainbow-colored armbands promoting anti-discrimination have now backed out of the plan ... after FIFA warned the squads they would face punishment for donning the pieces.

Several players from England, Belgium, Wales, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Denmark and Germany were all scheduled to help promote diversity and inclusion in Qatar, where homosexuality is illegal, with the markings on their jerseys.

But, after FIFA threatened to issue yellow cards during games over it all, the teams announced Monday they would not go through with the plan.

"FIFA has been very clear that it will impose sporting sanctions if our captains wear the armbands on the field of play," the teams said in a joint statement.

"As national federations, we can't put our players in a position where they could face sporting sanctions including bookings, so we have asked the captains not to attempt to wear the armbands in FIFA World Cup games."

The teams said they were prepared to pay any fines ... but when the potential of yellow cards and even ejections came into play, they backed out.

The squads called it all "frustrating" ... adding that their "players and coaches are disappointed."

"They are strong supporters of inclusion and will show support in other ways," they wrote.

FA Wales officials added in a tweet early Monday morning that despite having to pull out of the armband movement, "we remain with the belief that football is for everyone and stand with our LGBTQ+ members of the Welsh football family."

Kyrie Irving, suspended since November 3rd, has rejoined his Nets teammates and is expected to play Sunday night ... nearly a month after posting a link to a controversial movie.

30-year-old Irving was at Nets shootaround Sunday morning -- hours before BK plays the Grizzlies at Barclays -- once again told reporters he wasn't antisemitic.

"I don’t stand for anything close to hate speech or antisemitism or anything that is going against the human race," Irving said.

"I feel like we all should have an opportunity to speak for ourselves when things are assumed about us and I feel it was necessary for me to stand in this place and take accountability for my actions, because there was a way I should have handled all this and as I look back and reflect when I had the opportunity to offer my deep regrets to anyone that felt threatened or felt hurt by what I posted, that wasn’t my intent at all."

Of course, it was way back on October 27th Kyrie tweeted a link to the movie "Hebrew to Negroes: Wake Up Black America" ... a film full of antisemitic tropes.

Irving eventually deleted the tweet ... but refused to apologize for giving the movie attention. After multiple missed opportunities to apologize, the Nets suspended Kyrie on November 3, saying he was "unfit" to be a Net.

But, after meeting several criteria ... including a face-to-face with NBA commissioner Adam Silver, the Nets organization believes Kyrie has done enough.

A brutal assault of an older couple leaving the Elton John concert at Dodger Stadium this week was captured on camera -- as were the alleged assailants ... and TMZ has the video.

This incident has been going viral on social media the past couple days, and for good reason ... a man and a woman, both in their 60s, were senselessly attacked Thursday night by what we're told were a group of at least 4-6 people, this while trying to exit the parking lot.

Sources with direct knowledge tell TMZ ... the older couple, who'd gone to the concert by themselves, were getting ready to leave when a woman allegedly punched their sideview mirror, causing the husband to get out, confront her and and seek an explanation.

We're told the woman then tried to swing on the older man, who blocked her. At this point, our sources say the gentleman was mobbed by at least two men who started wailing on him ... part of which is on video. This footage is graphic, but you can see him being pummeled.

Sadly, it wasn't over yet ... we're told the wife hopped out to help her husband, only to allegedly be body slammed to the ground as well by some men in the group. She was knocked unconscious, and both of them were left there helplessly as people stood around.

Our sources say bystanders filmed it, but not much else to help these poor folks. As the group tried to walk away from the scene, one man followed them and recorded ... only to apparently be attacked himself when the guy in black noticed him and pounced.

Eventually, we're told the couple was helped back into their car and the wife came to. Our sources say they were waiting for EMS to show up ... but that it took far too long for any first-responders and/or stadium security to arrive. After some time, the wife felt okay enough to drive both of them to the hospital ... where we're told the husband was admitted.

At some point, somebody recorded what we're told was one of the women who was allegedly involved being questioned by what looks like a cop. Our sources say the officer didn't realize she was one of the people who was allegedly in the mix ... and was cut loose.

The children of this couple -- who were not present during the night in question -- are now desperately pleading with the public to come forward with any information to identify the 6 people they claim thrashed their parents, and have filed a police report to boot.

As you can imagine, they want justice for their family ... as their parents could've easily been killed, and as of now -- the alleged attackers have seemingly gotten away with it scot-free.

Our law enforcement sources tell us the LAPD is aware of the incident and are investigating. No arrests have been made. We've reached out to Dodger Stadium ... no word back yet.