Controversial S#!T

Bill Cosby is facing a new lawsuit from 5 women -- most of whom were involved with "The Cosby Show" -- who claim he sexually assaulted them.

According to the suit, obtained by TMZ ... the women claim the disgraced actor/comedian masqueraded as their mentor as they tried to break into show biz in the '80s and '90s, but instead he turned into a predator.

Plaintiffs Lili Bernard, Eden Tirl, Jewel Gittens, Jennifer Thompson and Cindra Ladd say Cosby was able to take advantage of them because they were young and vulnerable.

Lili guest starred as Mrs. Minifield in a 1992 'Cosby Show' episode ... and in the lawsuit, she says Cosby drugged and assaulted her several times -- including one time when she woke up during the rape to find him trying to smother her with a pillow.

According to the suit, she threatened to go to the police, and Cosby threw her down a flight of stairs and kicked her out, warning he would destroy her. She says she didn't report the alleged crimes out of fear for her life.

Eden Tirl -- who had a bit role as a cop on 'Cosby' -- alleges she was "escorted" by one of the employees on set to Cosby's dressing room, where he locked the door, grabbed her breasts, kissed her neck and pressed his penis into her back while whispering, "This is making love."

In the suit, Gittens says Cosby drugged and assaulted her at his home while they discussed a possible role for her on the show -- Thompson claims he forced her to masturbate him ... and Ladd alleges he raped her after giving her a pill for a headache that made her pass out.

As we reported, Cosby has been accused of rape by dozens of women over the years -- allegations that he denies. In 2018, he was sentenced to 10 years in a Pennsylvania prison for indecent assault -- but, he was released last year because prosecutors had violated an immunity deal Cosby had been given by a previous district attorney.

Earlier this year, he was found liable by a California jury in a civil case of sexually abusing a teenage girl in 1975.

DJ Akademiks says Ashanti needs to come clean and say the name of the producer who attempted to blackmail her songs in exchange for sex in the shower.

Ashanti was on "The Breakfast Club" last week and shared an alleged encounter between her and the mystery producer who she claims withheld a couple tracks they worked on in hopes they'd hop in the tub together.

When Ashanti refused, she says the price of the songs went from $0 to $40,000 ... prompting her to call up her goon squad to handle business.

Ak says Ashanti is doing her fellow females in the music industry a potentially harmful disservice -- as they could also fall into the producer's traps if she doesn't disclose a name.

Ak also points out the fact Ashanti's a veteran in the biz now, so she should just give up the name.

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's upcoming documentary lays out new allegations about his family's attacks on her -- but at least one expert isn't buying their claims of racism, because she says King Charles III has lots of "Black friends."

Angela Levin authored "Harry: A Biography of a Prince" back in 2018, and joined us Monday on "TMZ Live" to break down the new trailer for "Harry & Meghan." Her take is it's total BS from the Sussexes.

She finds it suspect that the couple keeps playing the racism card without pointing the finger at anyone specific in the royal family ... and, without hard evidence. So, as far as she's concerned, it's a lie.

As we've reported, Netflix released a new trailer for the doc ... where Harry calls out the "hierarchy of the family," alleging they leaked stories about Meghan and him to support the family's "war against Meghan."

You'll recall, Meghan and Harry first raised the racism claim during the Oprah interview ... accusing unnamed members of the royal family of racism. Angela, for one, is convinced it's not Harry's father.

She told us King Charles has "loads of Black and Chinese friends." No joke, that's exactly how she said it.

The author didn't try to hide her distaste for Meghan, either -- flat out blaming the Duchess for bringing out the worst in Harry.

NBA YoungBoy spent 8 minutes unloading the weight of the world in his new track "This Not a Song 'This For My Supporters'" ... and offered up some advice to Kanye West after yet another tumultuous week.

Midway through the track, YB laments over Kanye cracking under the pressure and urged him to stay strong rapping, "It hurt my heart that Kanye let them people break his soul/How the f**k that go? N**ga, stand your own n**ga, hold your ground, you strong!"

The Louisiana rapper even suggested he'd give Kanye a couple of pointers on how to kill all his demons ... in the name of good, of course.

Ye will need at least two years of good karma if he's going to secure the Presidential bid he's currently campaigning for but it sounds like YB is gunning for his spot in the White House!!!

YB also dedicated some lyrical space to plenty of other eye-popping topics. He threatened to sue The Shade Room for alleged misquotes ... and says he'll kick out any woman who plays GloRilla's 'F.N.F.' hit song around him because it's the opposite of his character.

Despite the aggressive tone of the track, YB repeatedly demands people "stop the violence" and even defended his hometown Baton Rogue's quality of life.

Draymond Green says there isn't a debate in his mind ... LeBron James is simply a better basketball player than Michael Jordan.

The Golden State Warriors star didn't mince words when talking about his top-five NBA players of all time on the latest episode of "Throwing Bones" ... explaining he believes LBJ is the GOAT when it comes to hoops.

Draymond listed several reasons -- including the duration of LeBron's run as the game's best ... as well as the Lakers great's skill set.

But, most notably, Green says the competition James faced year after year after year sets him apart from His Airness.

"MJ didn't beat the greatest team ever assembled," Green said. "Nor did he run up against the greatest team ever assembled every year."

Green added, "There's nobody that has ever played the game of basketball that can do what LeBron James does on a basketball court. Nobody."

The debate has raged on for years -- Jordan supporters have pointed to Michael's 6-0 championship record to give him the crown, while LBJ fans have directed the attention to The King's gaudy stats (he's less than 1,000 points away from being the Association's all-time leading scorer).

Seems Draymond, though, has his mind made up ... and he swears it ain't shade to his former idol.

"I'm sure one of the old f***s is going to say, 'You're out of your mind' and this that and the other," Green said. "The talent is way better [during LeBron's era], just like the talent at Apple is way better than the talent that was working at Apple in 1991."

Kyrie Irving is no longer a Nike athlete ... a spokesperson for the company announced Monday.

Irving, whose future with the retail giant was in question after they suspended him for tweeting about a controversial, antisemitic film ... has cut ties with the NBA star, according to NBA insider Shams Charania.

As we previously reported, Nike put its relationship with Ky on ice on November 4 ... suspending Irving. Despite satisfying the team and league with his apology, as well as other steps, the Swoosh indicated their relationship with Irving was probably done after the suspension.

In an interview with CNBC, Phil Knight, cofounder and chairman of the manufacturing conglomerate, said Irving's relationship with the company was "likely over."

"Kyrie stepped over the line. It's kind of that simple," Knight said. "He made some statements that we just can't abide by, and that's why we ended the relationship. I was fine with that."

Kyrie joined the Nike family in 2011 ... releasing his signature Kyrie 1 basketball shoe in 2014 as a member of the Cavs in his third NBA season.

The honchos over at ABC News have made the decision to take Amy Robach and T.J. Holmes off the air ... calling the couple's relationship a distraction with next steps to be sorted out by execs.

Sources at ABC tell TMZ ... ABC News' President, Kim Godwin, made the announcement during an editorial call Monday morning -- calling the situation an "internal and external distraction."

Kim also said the decision wasn't easy and not a violation of company policy, she added, "And so, I want to say that while that relationship is not a violation of company policy, I have really taken the last few days to think about and work through what I think is best for the ABC News organization."

She continued, "This is something I'm not going to talk, we're not going to talk about on this call until there is more to be said. I'm asking that we stop the whispering in the hallways. You know, we can't operate with gossip, and speculation and rumors. We need to stay focused on the work."

Adding, "If you think there is something that management needs to know, you can always call HR or, as we've said, talk to a manager that you trust. If you think there is something that we need to know."

The decision comes less than a week after the public found out the coworkers were dating ... Daily Mail published a set of flirty photos of the two spending time throughout NYC, and broke the news they'd be taken off the air.

While neither Amy or T.J. said much about the relationship on air, they seemingly joked about all the attention it generated during Friday's broadcast when T.J. said he just wanted the week to keep going and going ... Amy said she was ready for the weekend.

TMZ broke the story, sources connected to Amy and T.J. told us the added attention to their lives wasn't going to make them pump the brakes on their relationship at all. The two were in a consensual relationship, and both had an equal position on 'GMA3.'

Stephanie Ramos and Gio Benitez will replace the two on Monday, it's unclear if they'll fill the whole week.

Sacha Baron Cohen did his classic 'Borat' bit to go after Kanye West during the Kennedy Center Honors, and Rep. Nancy Pelosi's husband was among those applauding ... as he made his first public appearance since he was attacked.

The actor/comedian reprised his iconic role for a speech Sunday night at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in D.C., where George Clooney, Gladys Knight, U2 and a few other artists were honored.

During the ceremony, SBC came out dressed as the misunderstood Kazak journalist and went right after Ye's antisemitic remarks, saying ... "Before I proceed, I will say I am very upset about the antisemitism in US and A. It not fair. Kazakhstan is number 1 Jew-crushing nation. Stop stealing our hobby. Stop the steal! Stop the steal!”

He added, "Your Kanye, he tried to move to Kazakhstan and even changed his name to Kazakhstanye West. But, we said: No, he too antisemitic, even for us."

If you're unfamiliar, the 'Borat' character is known for making antisemitic jabs -- but everyone knows it's ironic humor, because Sacha is Jewish.

He even sang a parody of U2's "With or Without You," changing the lyrics to "With or Without Jews."

Later in the evening, Borat got lost and Sacha reappeared as his normal self.

Now, while his standup was certainly a highlight from the night, seeing Paul Pelosi in the building, alongside Rep. Pelosi was just as eye-opening.

It marked his first public outing since an attacker struck him with a hammer, back in October, inside the Pelosis' San Fran home.

Paul's skull was damaged, and required surgery ... but at the Kennedy Center, he seemed to have recovered well. He was wearing a hat, possibly to conceal his injuries.

A new trailer for Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's documentary has dropped, and it's clear the couple isn't holding back in taking some serious shots at the royal family.

Netflix released the new preview for "Harry & Meghan" Monday morning, showing more of the drama that'll be unveiled starting this week ... and Harry's calling out the "hierarchy of the family" -- claiming people inside his camp were leaking stories about him and Meghan.

Meghan claims everything changed after she married into the fam ... with one person talking about "a war against Meghan" -- while another claiming the drama was all rooted in hatred and racism.

Harry even talks about not wanting "history to repeat itself," while flashes of paparazzi swarm their car -- before showing shots of Princess Diana dealing with the same thing.

As we reported, Harry and Meghan -- who now live in the U.S. -- were stripped of their private security during visits to the U.K. back in July ... Harry claimed it wasn't safe for him, Meghan or their 2 kids because it's just too dangerous without security help.

Harry ends the trailer, saying no one knows the "full truth" except for them ... and we're only days away from finding out what that is.

One of the producers of Will Smith's new movie about a runaway slave is apologizing for bringing a photo of the real inspiration for the character to the film's premiere.

Joey McFarland issued a mea culpa Sunday -- this after there was some apparent outrage over the fact he brought a wallet-size picture to the L.A. premiere of 'Emancipation' Wednesday ... which he flashed to a reporter on the red carpet while discussing it.

McFarland was asked how he came to own the OG photo of "Whipped Peter" from 1863 ... and then he actually brought out and showed it off. His answer boiled down to seeing the importance of history and wanting to curate valuable artifacts like this one so that they can live and be preserved -- and so we can all learn a valuable lesson from the past.

On its face, there doesn't seem to be anything wrong with JMF's statement. But, of course, some took issue with his phrasing -- like saying he wanted a "piece of Peter" to be there that night -- and the optics of a white man owning and parading this pic around like a prop.

That's how a handful of folks interpreted his interview here anyway ... and it seems McFarland caught wind of that noise and felt compelled to explain himself.

He writes, "I wholeheartedly apologize to everyone I have offended by bringing a photograph of Peter to the Emancipation premiere. My intent was to honor this remarkable man and to remind the general public that his image is not only brought about change in 1863 but still resonates and promotes change today."

McFarland adds, "After uncovering Peter’s origin story with help from diligent historians, I spent the last few years working with the Emancipation creative time in order to bring his story to life so worldwide audiences would have an opportunity to appreciate his heroism. I hope my actions don’t distract from the film’s message." He says he simply wants to honor the legacy of Peter and others like him, and meant no harm in showing off the photo.

Deshaun Watson just stepped foot on an NFL field for the first time in 700 days ... and the Houston Texans fans made their displeasure known -- letting the boo birds fly as he made his Cleveland Browns debut.

The 27-year-old quarterback is returning from an 11-game suspension for violating the league's personal conduct policy ... after dozens of massage therapists made sexual misconduct allegations against him.

Watson faced a hostile crowd as he made his Browns debut on Sunday ... with his former team's supporters heckling him as he lined up under center.

As we previously reported, attorney Tony Buzbee -- who repped almost every woman who accused Watson of sexual misconduct -- announced at least 10 of his clients would be in attendance for the game.

Watson's family was also at NRG Stadium to support ... with everyone wearing #4 jerseys in the stands.

Deshaun had a smile on his face prior to the Browns' first offensive drive ... but the television broadcast showed many fans were not happy to see him.

There may be a bit of rust for Watson, who hasn't played since 2020 -- the Browns ended up going 3-and-out in their first possession.

Kanye West has unveiled his bigoted views to the world, yet there's still a market for Ye24 merch as he noodles on another run for president.

A quick search on eBay and Amazon reveals dozens of listings, with everything from shirts and hoodies to hats and flip-flops ... all with either Kanye's imagery or his Ye24 slogan. It's unclear exactly who's selling the stuff ... whether it's Kanye or 3rd parties. Pricing ranges from $20-30 for hats, up to $50 for hoodies and flip-flops, plus shipping.

While we've yet to see any designs of Kanye with a swastika or anything Hitler-adjacent, some merch includes Ye holding a cross, and another where he's standing next to Iron Man.

As for the resale value of Yeezy shoes, those have remained shockingly unchanged -- despite Kanye's proclamation of loving Hitler and giving props to Nazis.

Remo from Walk Like Us, a digital marketing company working with resellers, tells us one of the more popular Yeezy designs -- the 2015 Turtle Doves which retailed for $160 -- are still reselling at an average price of $793.

Akon is still backing Kanye West, even after the guy proclaimed his love for Hitler and Nazis -- going so far as to say, he isn't offended ... 'cause the remarks aren't aimed at him.

The singer sat for an interview with Sky News this week ... during which he said he supports Ye's right to speak his mind and say whatever he wants to say, regardless of how much it might piss off society -- which is apparently how he's framed this saga in his mind.

While Akon says he would make sure to give KW his own POV against Ye's argument about liking Hitler -- in a debate, it seems -- he still doesn't like the idea of shutting the dude down and smothering out his speech just because what he's saying is objectionable to some.

That last part is incredibly telling, and something the journo caught onto -- asking Akon if it troubles him that Kanye makes objectively horrid comments, period ... with Akon responding, "Not really, because those comments don't really affect me personally."

In other words ... not my group, not my fight. That certainly seems to be the vibe Akon is projecting here -- and, as you can imagine, he's getting torn to shreds on Twitter over it.

An old video of Steve Aoki chucking a cake at a guy in a wheelchair is making the rounds again -- and while people are already quick to dogpile him ... the outrage should stop here.

The Fight Club Videos Twitter account surfaced a clip Friday that's taking off right now on the bird app -- it shows the famed DJ throwing a pastry out into the crowd (like he normally does) and hitting a dude who was raised up in a wheelchair ... right in the face.

The Twitter account that posted this -- which literally just aggregates and publishes crazy clips -- described this incident in rather ominous terms ... and without any context whatsoever. They wrote, "Steve Aoki (DJ) threw a cake 80 ft and hit boy in wheel chair."

First, this is an ancient video from 2013, when SA performed at the Veld Music Festival in Toronto. And more importantly, this is not a "boy" -- AKA, a child -- but rather ... a grown-ass man. He also wasn't the victim of anything, as Twitter is apparently quick to assume now.

There were some who saw this -- again, out of context -- and assumed what the Fight Club account floated was accurate ... and that he'd intentionally aimed to hurt this disabled person. That, or they presumed Steve didn't realize the damage he may have inflicted.

Fortunately, that's not even close to the truth at all ... if you watch the full clip, which Steve posted himself back then, you'll see the man asked to be hoisted up and wanted the cake.

Steve simply obliged, and even snapped a shot with him afterward. So, it was all kosher.

The reason there's so many unlikeable female leads is because Hollywood is all in on "Mary Sue" -- so says one writer ... whose hot take is getting blasted as straight-up misogyny.

A fella named Joshua Lisec -- who's ghostwritten a ton of books over the years -- took to Twitter this week to outline a very long argument he firmly believes in ... namely, that the literary "Mary Sue" archetype is alive and thriving in modern-day entertainment, despite the fact people aren't really into these strong fictional heroines who kick ass out of nowhere.

His words ... not ours.

Essentially, this boils down to characters like Rey (Daisy Ridley, 'Star Wars'), Galadriel (Morfydd Clark, "Rings of Power"), Carol Danvers (Brie Larson, "Captain Marvel") and even Bo Peep (Annie Potts, "Toy Story 4") and others who start out in a new plot as bad to the bone ... despite a lack of training/backstory to explain how they came to be so strong.

Now, whether that definition of a typical Mary Sue actually applies to the above-mentioned characters -- and other female leads in action movies in general -- is what's at debate here.

Lisec's thread has gone viral, with a ton of backlash coming his way for what a lot of people claim is a convoluted and long-winded way to say ... he simply doesn't like women, and can't stand the idea of a female character being anything other than a damsel in distress.

There are others poking holes in his theory ... at one point during which he makes comparisons to classic male leads whom he thinks were properly fleshed out (Luke Skywalker, etc.) Some are offering examples of countless traditional male heroes who've emerged with unexplained powers ... noting Mary Sue is a dog whistle to attack women.

As for why this convo is even taking place ... well, it appears there are some, like Lisec, who feel there is, in fact, a push from Hollywood lately for "strong female leads" who emerge as heroes without a bona fide, solid setup. The forthcoming 'Indiana Jones' flick appears to be positioning Phoebe Waller-Bridge's character for exactly that (the "new Indy" post-Ford).

This isn't a sentiment that's super fringe either ... Emily Blunt has denounced the "strong female lead" label -- basically saying it was being done to death, and that she's over it.

Elon Musk is doing a new file dump that he says reflects Twitter's alleged efforts to suppress stories about Hunter Biden's laptop in 2020 ... causing a lot of outrage in right wing circles.

The Twit in Chief is set to follow up with another day of #TwitterFiles Saturday, which took the bird app by storm over the past 24 hours ... this after the initial batch detailed alleged correspondence between former Twitter staffers and execs, suggesting they were censoring negative HB news.

Specifically, the internal emails cited by journo Matt Taibbi show how Twitter's ex-head honchos apparently went out of their way to hide links to a story by the New York Post.

Published about a month before the election, it was touted as a bombshell report -- which purported to describe messages the NYP says it retrieved from Hunter's forsaken laptop ... and one of those seems to indicate Ukrainian gas bigwigs were trying to meet President Biden via his son, who was in business with these folks at the time (around 2015 or so).

When this went live in 2020, any attempts to tweet links to the story were barred en masse on Twitter ... and now, these #TwitterFiles pretty much seem to confirm it was, in fact, a coordinated effort in-house. The more troubling part, though ... some of the emails appear to imply that Twitter was actually in touch with Biden's campaign team ... and conceding to their requests to kill the story, as they claimed the information had been hacked/stolen.

Twitter obliged, citing its terms and conditions to justify the move -- not to mention the fact the info discussed hadn't been independently verified -- but since then ... a majority of the materials on the laptop were authenticated as legit. The laptop was also deemed abandoned property after somebody turned it into a shop in 2019 ... eventually finding its way into the hands of conservative operatives who ran with it and publicized its salacious contents.

In the end, however, the Hunter Biden chatter really amounted to nothing in the big picture.

There's been a lot of handwringing in and around the GOP over this for a full two years -- but now that these apparent revelations are coming to light ... many are calling for congressional hearings and investigations into what they characterize as corruption/election interference. Basically, their argument is ... Twitter blocked something that could've, perhaps, swung the election in Trump's favor -- and they're calling on POTUS to answer for it.