Controversial S#!T

Elon Musk is sick of all the leaks plaguing Twitter lately -- so he's threatening to enforce the company's NDAs with his workforce ... at the risk of potential litigation.

The Chief Twit reportedly fired off an email to employees that detailed ramifications if they were found to be leaking sensitive insider info to the media ... this according to Platformer's Zoë Schiffer, who says she obtained a copy of the correspondence and quoted from it.

Schiffer says the email from EM begins ... "As evidenced by the many detailed leaks of confidential Twitter information, a few people at our company continue to act in a manner contrary to the company's interests and in violation of their NDA."

Elon reportedly goes on to say this, "This will be said only once: If you clearly and deliberately violate the NDA that you signed when you joined, you accept liability to the full extent of the law & Twitter will immediately seek damages."

There is a little wiggle room, it seems ... as Elon apparently told his fellow birds that an accidental or occasional slipup was understandable -- but also made a distinction between that and what he says has been happening en masse ... outright squealing to the press.

There has, in fact, been a lot of news about how Twitter's operating under Elon's regime -- with word of one of the HQs being turned into a motel of sorts, the mass firings/attempted rehires ... and, of course, the scarecrow moderation council he plans to install.

Some have called out EM as a hypocrite for trying to silence his own staff, while continuing to explicitly leak internal Twitter files to journos like Matt Taibbi and Bari Weiss.

Controversial L.A. councilman Kevin de León got into a knockdown, drag-out fight with an activist ... while attending a Christmas tree lighting and toy giveaway event, of all places.

The video starts as de León is slamming Jason Reedy down onto a table, and the 2 of them continued wrestling into a hallway ... as people around them tried to break it up. Reedy is an organizer for a tenant rights group, and apparently has beef with de León.

After the fight ended -- with no serious injuries -- de León claimed it all started with Reedy headbutting him. He said the "self-proclaimed activists" assaulted him during the "community holiday event to the dismay of a multitude of families and children who were there to celebrate a Christmas tree lighting and to receive toys and food."

The incident's not all that shocking -- de León has been under fire since a leaked recording of him and other council members making racist remarks came out in October. Two of the council members resigned, but de León refused to step down and, instead, issued an apology.

After Friday's scuffle, Reedy's attorney told the LA Times, de León is “a disgrace.”

A serial killer on the U.S. and Mexico border seems like a Ted Bundy copycat, at least to the Mexican authorities desperately trying to hunt him down.

So far, cops believe the murderer has snuffed out 3 Tijuana sex workers -- women he targeted in strip clubs, lured back to a hotel room ... and then performed violent sexual acts before killing them.

Baja California (Mexico) Attorney General Ricardo Iván Carpio Sánchez told reporters Friday ... “This subject has criminal tendencies associated with violent and psychopathic behavior. His profile is very similar to someone who became very well-known decades ago: Ted Bundy."

They also suspect the killer is American. Tijuana is just over the California border.

Bundy confessed to abducting and murdering 30 women and girls across the United States from 1974 to 1978. He was later captured and executed by the state of Florida in 1989.

Thomas Markle is steering clear of his daughter's docuseries, "Harry & Meghan" ... according to Meghan's half sister, who says their father's more focused on his health than the project she calls "disrespectful."

Samantha Markle tells TMZ ... she's protecting her dad by telling him not to watch the new doc, saying Meghan's kicked Thomas while he was down in the past, and a series like this just further disrespects their fam.

Samantha says Thomas doesn't know what's in the series, and doesn't need to find out.

She doesn't think he'd even want to watch, because the royal family ordeal has been damaging to his health for a while. Most importantly, he's still recovering from the stroke he suffered earlier this year.

If you haven't seen it, the Netflix series is essentially the Duke and Duchess' side of everything they've been through -- from their first date to leaving the royal family to dealing with racist British headlines.

It also includes their viewpoint of the drama with Thomas leading up to their wedding, which he famously did not attend. Harry even says how "incredibly sad" it is for his wife to have lost her dad.

The Liver King's recent bombshell admission might be bad news for his wildly successful supplement companies ... 'cause he expects to lose customers over his steroid use.

45-year-old Brian Johnson joined "TMZ Live" to discuss his decision to come clean about doping ... and he says he understands the harm he's caused by lying about it for years, and accepts all criticism coming his way.

"I know that I f****ed this up," LK said Friday. "I owe this. This is on me to deal with, and I deserve all the hate and criticism that I'm getting. I'll deal with this."

Before he ever became the viral Liver King with millions of followers, Johnson was already raking in the dough through his Heart & Soil and Ancestral Supplements company -- which reportedly earned him $100 million a year.

Now that he's come clean, LK foresees a drop in sales ... but says that's not what's most important to him.

"I'm sure it's going to affect the revenue, but everyone needs to understand this was never why we got into this," he said.

"I hope that customers remain, but what matters more than anything is nose-to-tail nourishment better be in your diet. If you don't want to get it from one of my companies, I hope you'll get it from somewhere else."

R. Kelly isn't admitting a damn thing when it comes to the "I Admit It" album that dropped Friday -- speaking from jail, he calls the recording a plot to screw him over in court.

TMZ obtained this audio Kelly's attorney, Jennifer Bonjean, says he recorded Friday shortly after they'd met. The disgraced singer immediately shuts down the notion he'd put out any music right now, much less something with the lyrics, "I Admit It," because he's trying to appeal his latest federal conviction.

Even more mysterious ... Kelly seems to insinuate the album recordings aren't even his voice. He says, "I hope people recognized my voice and know that" he wouldn't be recording in the middle of a legal battle.

As we reported, it certainly looked and sounded like he'd release a 13-track album, with the title track addressing many of the allegations leveled against him.

After just a few hours, though, the project was pulled from Spotify and Apple Music -- as Kelly's label, Sony Music, denied any involvement in the recording or in distributing it to the streamers.

His legal team later told us, they were investigating to figure out who may have released the music. BTW, we know it was uploaded by Ingrooves, a distributor owned by Universal Music Group ... with no ties to Sony Music.

Also, the Federal Bureau of Prisons confirmed R. Kelly didn't produce any songs using equipment in prison.

During this voice recording, he seemed to want to prove it's not his voice on "I Admit It" -- so, he broke into a few bars of his song, “When A Woman's Fed Up."

He thinks there's a clear difference, but listen for yourself.

R. Kelly's legal team is digging deep into the mystery of who dropped an unauthorized album using his name and recordings, and his attorney says they've already got their sights set on a few possible suspects.

R. Kelly's criminal defense attorney, Jennifer Bonjean, tells TMZ the disgraced singer's lawyers, entertainment attorneys and trusted friends are all trying to get to the bottom of who currently has access to his music catalog. She says they have a small group of people who they've ID'd as culprits ... but notes a potential problem could be his material changing hands.

Bonjean says she spoke with R. Kelly Friday afternoon -- he was surprised and upset about the music's release without his permission.

Bonjean tells us stuff like this has been a reoccurring issue for R. Kelly ... claiming a bunch of studio equipment, computers and masters were taken shortly after his 2019 arrest. She says there's also been an issue with his calls and emails being stolen from prison.

As we reported, an album called "I Admit It," featuring a bunch of R. Kelly's SoundCloud tracks, silently made its way to major streaming platforms Friday but was quickly removed. A source at Sony Music told us it appeared to be a bootleg version.

R. Kelly just dropped the biggest surprise album of 2022 ... a project called "I Admit It" with lyrics that address the years of allegations leveled against the disgraced singer.

The 13-song album features tracks with titles like "I Found Love," "Good Ole Days" and "Freaky Sensation."

But his last 3 tracks might be the most revealing -- it's a 3-part piece called "I Admit it (I Did It)," where he unloads a ton of stuff he's done in the past. He put the full 19-minute track on SoundCloud back in 2018, but this marks the first time it's made it to Apple or Spotify.

In it, R. Kelly talks about helping people that ended up turning against him ... before admitting to a laundry list of things -- including "I done f***ed with a couple of fans" and says he even slept with his girlfriend's friend.

He digs even deeper, "How they gon' say I don't respect these women when all I've done is represent" ... and "You mad I've got some girlfriends."

R. Kelly directly addresses the allegations as the tracks go on ... saying, "They're brainwashed, really? Kidnapped, really? Can't eat, really? Real talk, that s*** sound silly."

While it's unclear exactly who he's talking about, he also seems to blame the parents of one of his female flings for introducing them. Saying, "And if you really, really wanna know. Her father dropped her off at my show. And told this boy to put her on the stage. I admit that she was overage."

As we reported, Spotify made the call back in 2018 to stop promoting his music when allegations about running a sex cult continued to pick up steam ... but it sounds like R. Kelly's made it back to the platform with his telling tracks.

Freddie Gibbs' love for Tupac quickly turned into jokes during a recent visit to the popular basketball podcast "All The Smoke" ... after Matt Barnes outed a crew member whose mother once dated the late rap icon.

The crew member gave himself away off-screen by putting his head down when Matt dropped the bombshell ... derailing the convo with merciless jokes.

Freddie and Matt immediately launched on the guy ... with Freddie quipping the opening lyrics to Pac's classic sex romp "How Do U Want It" which was dedicated to the guy's mother.

Despite being in awe of Tupac and even owning up to emulating his shaved head, Freddie admitted his fandom for Pac would've shrunk if he was a teenager during such a relationship.

Stephen Jackson tried to keep the peace but Matt laid the jokes on even thicker ... claiming the poor guy had to suffer when Mr. "I Get Around" paid his house a visit. 🙈

Florida Congressman-Elect Maxwell Alejandro Frost, the first Gen Z candidate to make it to Congress, says he tried applying for an apartment in Washington, D.C. -- but got denied because of low credit.

25-year-old Frost let out his housing frustrations Thursday, tweeting ... "Just applied to an apartment in DC where I told the guy that my credit was really bad. He said I'd be fine. Got denied, lost the apartment, and the application fee."

He says, "This ain't meant for people who don't already have money," before answering some follow-up questions -- mainly telling people his credit tanked because of all the debt he got while running for Congress.

He added, and not jokingly, "Didn't make enough money from Uber itself to pay for a living."

Frost gives a shoutout to fellow Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who he says went through the same thing 4 years ago ... pointing out how history's repeating itself.

He ends his post pointing toward the fact that his credit should bump back up once he gets on his new salary, but adds ... "We have to do better for the whole country."

ABC is pulling the plug on Christmas with the Backstreet Boys ... a late decision that comes immediately on the heels of Nick Carter being accused of sexual battery.

The band's special, "A Very Backstreet Holiday," was set to air on ABC next week, and featured all 5 singers -- Nick, Brian, Howie, AJ and Kevin -- but the network has canceled the airing ... TMZ has confirmed.

The special was shot last month in L.A., and, at this stage, would be complete and ready to air. ABC isn't offering any explanation for the last-minute cancelation, but with the announcement coming less than 24 hours after the lawsuit against Carter ... it's pretty clear.

TMZ broke the story ... Shannon Ruth sued the singer Thursday for sexual battery, saying she was 17 back in 2001 when was allegedly invited on his tour bus and given alcohol.

According to legal docs, Ruth -- who's autistic with cerebral palsy -- was then sexually assaulted by Carter ... and when she threatened to tell people about what he did, he allegedly called her a "r******* little bitch" who no one would believe. She says she contracted HPV after the incident and is now seeking damages.

Nick's attorney, Michael Holtz, told us the entire claim "is not only legally meritless but also entirely untrue" ... saying Ruth has been manipulated into making false allegations about Nick.

Gayle King is weighing in on the T.J. Holmes/Amy Robach drama, calling the whole situation a "sloppy mess" -- but insists she's not gloating about her morning TV competition's crisis.

The "CBS Mornings" cohost dropped her 2 cents Thursday night on 'Watch What Happens Live' ... after Andy Cohen teed it up by asking what she thinks about "all hell breaking loose" at 'GMA.'

Gayle said, "I look at the situation and I say it's very interesting what's happening over there. It's just gotten very messy and very sloppy."

She gave ABC and 'GMA' execs props for their initial stance of letting 2 consenting adults remain on the air, but then added ... "The more you read, it's just very messy."

Gayle stopped short of accusing Amy and T.J. of cheating on their spouses -- an allegation they've denied -- but she did say, "I think, to me, it's just a sad situation because you've got kids involved, you've got families involved, and I keep thinking about that."

TMZ broke the story ... T.J. and Amy are still a couple one week after getting benched ... as ABC takes a deep dive into their romance, and whether they violated company policies.

Olive Garden is saying arrivederci to a controversial restaurant manager who allegedly got so fed up with employees calling out for work they demanded proof even if a staffer's dog died.

A message reportedly sent from the disgraced manager to employees and obtained by KCTV read, "Our call-offs are occurring at a staggering rate. From now on, if you call off, you might as well go out and look for another job. We are no longer tolerating ANY EXCUSE for calling off. If you’re sick, you need to come prove it to us. If your dog died, you need to bring him in and prove it to us."

The manager, who worked at an OG location in Kansas, continued their rant by claiming they'd not taken a single day off in more than 11 years at the franchise.

Allegedly writing, "Do you know in my 11.5 years at Darden how many days I called off? Zero. I came in sick. I got in a wreck literally on my way to work one time, airbags went off and my car was totaled, but you know what, I made it to work, ON TIME.”

Two Kansas high schools say they've launched an investigation after several students at a recent basketball game allegedly yelled the n-word -- while waving around a Black doll.

The incident went down Saturday -- when the Topeka H.S. boys basketball team took on Valley Center H.S. in Valley Center, KS.

During the contest, according to Topeka players, several VC students hurled racial slurs and offensive language at them. They also say some of the spectators taunted them with a Black baby figurine.

One video shot by a Topeka student shows the doll being held up by some fans in the stands as the action was unfolding on the court. Another clip appears to show students calling one of the players a "p***y."

Topeka head coach Geo Lyons said in a change.org petition that despite the "racial slurs, threats and disgusting taunts" -- Valley Center officials "did not address any of these actions while play was taking place although they were very aware."

On Tuesday, Valley Center officials said they hadn't found any evidence of racist language being used at the game ... but on Wednesday, they, along with Topeka admins, released a joint statement explaining they've launched a probe into it all -- and investigations are ongoing.

"As both districts work in a unified manner to investigate matters related to the athletic events on Saturday, we as superintendents are both committed to ensuring a safe and respectful climate at school events," the statement read.

"Incidents that occurred when individuals did not conduct themselves in ways that reflect our commitment to supporting students have been handled, and there are investigations that are ongoing. We will work together to ensure the appropriate individuals are held accountable and work together to prevent such incidents in the future."

Plies is ecstatic about Brittney Griner's release from a Russian prison ... and says there's no reason for Paul Whelan's plight to overshadow the WNBA star's homecoming.

The Florida rapper went on a rant about people, like his cousin, who are focusing on the sad and disappointing fact Whelan -- a retired Marine -- is still in a Russian prison, as he has been for almost 4 years.

Plies acknowledges Whelan's sentence is BS ... but says no one gave a damn about Whelan before BG got detained and turned into a political pawn. He suspects Paul's newfound supporters are really just Brittney haters.

That particular shoe might fit Dallas Cowboys star Micah Parsons, who has since apologized for initially reacting to the news with an outcry for Paul. For what it's worth, Whelan himself told CNN Thursday he's disappointed in Biden for not making a deal for his release.

The embattled WNBA star was released Thursday in exchange for "Merchant of Death" arms dealer Viktor Bout ... after nearly 10 months of diplomatic negotiations.

Plies says he has a new nickname for President Joe Biden: "Big State Biden"

The American Girl doll brand is standing its ground after getting a ton of backlash for a book that encourages young girls to explore their identity, and offers info about transitioning.

The company tells TMZ, "We value the views and feedback of our customers and acknowledge the perspectives on this issue. The content in this book, geared for kids 10+, was developed in partnership with medical and adolescent care professionals and consistently emphasizes the importance of having conversations and discussing any feelings with parents or trusted adults."

AG continues, "We are committed to delivering content that leaves our readers feeling informed, confident, and positive about themselves."

The franchise is known for promoting self-esteem among young girls, but it had a lot of folks up in arms for selling its book, "A Smart Girl's Guide: Body Image Book". Some social media users accused the company of promoting puberty blockers to children ... and convincing them they're born the wrong way.

One of the specific sections that got a lot of pushback reads, "If you haven't gone through puberty yet, the doctor might offer medicine to delay your body's changes, giving you more time to think about your gender identity."