Controversial S#!T

Yung Joc is a man of his word when it comes to losing his bets … even if it means turning his head into a cue ball.

The outspoken OG rapper was forced to eat crow and had his head shaved after betting his "Streetz Morning Crew" cohost Mrz Shyneka that Tory Lanez would be exonerated for shooting Megan Thee Stallion at his recent trial. As the world now knows, that, of course, didn't happen.

Last Friday, a jury found Tory guilty on three separate charges ... discharging a firearm with gross negligence, assault with a semiautomatic firearm and carrying a loaded, unregistered firearm. The judge promptly remanded Tory to the L.A. County Jail to await his January 27 sentencing. The rapper faces a max of 22 years in prison and deportation back to his native Canada.

Shyneka actually did the honors of giving Joc the buzz cut, leaving his head totally hairless. Throughout the video, it seems, Shyneka is having a blast moving the electric razor over Joc's scalp as if it were a handheld lawn mower. It's all pretty darn funny ... unless, of course, you're Joc ... who, we must say, was a good sport the whole time.

In the end, Joc was able to turn lemons into lemonade by creating ads of his new noggin to promote his morning show!!!

Kato Kaelin is once again making himself at home on someone else's property in bizarre fashion -- and no, we're not done making O.J. Simpson jokes for this kooky story.

The actor/media personality was caught snagging some fresh fruit last week from a random person's home in a Burbank, CA neighborhood ... where he and his wife, Nan Xue Kaelin, were strolling along.

Check out the surveillance video, obtained by TMZ ... you see them chatting -- even though we're told they were supposedly arguing -- and then Kato trying to pick an orange from a tree right next to them.

Nan stops him, tugging him back ... but Kato eventually breaks free and snags 3 orbs from the branch -- cradling 'em in his arms as Nan appears to find it funny.

The homeowner tells us she didn't recognize Kato or Nan at first, but her husband did shout at them from the porch to not take his fruit -- not because he found their behavior offensive, but because they simply weren't ripe.

Kato, ever the rebel, did not listen ... proceeding to wander even further onto the property -- toward the back of the path ... where he seems to have grabbed even more oranges, some of which he dropped on his way back to the sidewalk -- kind of like that glove.

The homeowner tells us Kato and Nan walked away. The homeowners weren't pissed ... but definitely found the interaction to be strange.

Morbid as it may be ... this somewhat parallels his role in the murder trial way back when. Remember, he was a friend of Simpson's who was staying in the dude's backhouse at the time -- and he was also a key witness who couldn't account for O.J.'s whereabouts during a key hour and a half when Nicole Brown and Ron Goldman were slaughtered on Bundy Dr.

Whoopi Goldberg is rolling out a much-needed apology ... after making claims about the Holocaust that many found incredibly antisemitic.

Whoopi offered her "sincere apologies" Tuesday, telling Rolling Stone, "It was never my intention to appear as if I was doubling down on hurtful comments, especially after talking with and hearing people like rabbis and old and new friends weighing in."

She says she's still learning -- but confirms, "I believe that the Holocaust was about race, and I am still as sorry now as I was then that I upset, hurt and angered people.”

As we reported, Whoopi faced severe backlash after recently telling The Times Jewish people themselves are divided on whether they're actually a race or not, even quoting one Jewish friend as saying ... "Not for nothing is there no box on the census for the Jewish race. So that leads me to believe that we’re probably not a race."

Whoopi went on to double down on the notion that the Holocaust wasn't about race, from her POV, by saying ... "Remember who they were killing first. They were not killing racial; they were killing physical. They were killing people they considered to be mentally defective. And then they made this decision.”

Mel C of the Spice Girls is pullin' out of her upcoming show in Poland, saying her views don't align with the issues she's discovered ... and the LGBT+ community can't thank her enough for making the last-minute decision.

The singer took to social media Monday ... saying "In light of some issues that have been brought to my attention, that do not align with the communities I support, I'm afraid I will no longer be able to perform in Poland as planned on New Year's Eve."

She doesn't elaborate further on her decision, but people in the comments are praising her for seemingly standing up against the country's anti-LGBT stance in recent years.

For those unaware -- Poland's political views have often been viewed as conservative, and a ton of towns in the country have even been declared "LGBT-Free Zones" ... with the belief that the idealogy behind the LGBT culture isn't a part of the community.

FYI -- Mel was set to perform in an NYE special put on by Poland’s public broadcaster TVP ... a company that's reportedly been accused in recent years of becoming state-run propaganda, possibly even fueling the anti-LGBT fire.

The latest TikTok trend is all about tuggin' on family members' heartstrings, announcing the fake death of a beloved celeb ... and while the reactions are pretty hilarious, the viral clips have been met with some "bah humbugs" online.

The trend's picked up some serious steam on social media -- especially as families reconnect for the holidays, and what better way to pass the time than by (falsely) announcing the death of George Clooney or Kris Jenner ... right??

Gotta admit, there are some funny reactions in the mix ... from blood-curdling screams to almost reaching tears, it really goes to show just how much these stars mean to people.

While TikTokers are gettin' a good laugh, the joke ain't landing with some ... because a good chunk of the comments sections on these clips are filled with people calling the prank "unsettling."

Some are even blasting the younger generation for making light of the death of a celeb, even with their passing being untrue ... one even commented on a post, "This is so sick."

Tory Lanez's family and friends are banding together to help him avoid prison time ... and they're going after the jury, the music industry, Jay-Z and even suggesting Tory is a sacrificial lamb to do a solid for African American women.

Soon after Tory was convicted for shooting Meg Thee Stallion, an online petition -- Appeal Tory Lanez Verdict -- surfaced. So far, 19k people have signed on, and it doesn't look like it's slowing down anytime soon.

The petition claims Tory's trial was a "circus of speculation, insufficient evidence, inconsistencies, and drunken memories [that] left us without much moral certainty of any truth."

What's more ... Tory fans are attacking the jury, calling them irresponsible, claiming they rushed their decision and unjustly found Tory guilty on all 3 felony firearm counts.

The petition then lasers in on some wild claims -- "This case is also about branding, marketing, label heads and a music industry that pushes narratives based on who they have personally invested millions into. Could Jay-Z or RocNation be involved??"

And then, it becomes racial ... "Was this case taken because of a political pressure to fake protect black women? African-Americans went along with hashtags that didn't protect anyone & instead caused division between black women and black men."

Akon says Nick Cannon should keep on making babies, even if he has to miss a recital or two ... because, from his POV, that's something only white folks care about anyway. 😅

The singer sat down for an interview this past week with Zeze Millz that's making the rounds now online ... and for good reason. What Akon says here is pretty wild -- basically suggesting that Nick doesn't have to be at every one of his kids' events to be a good father.

But, the way he phrases it is ... interesting. Check it out -- Zeze asks Akon if he sees a problem with Nick potentially being spread too thin as he has more and more children -- especially if that manifests in him possibly not being able to be there for all of them at crucial moments, like a dance recital.

To that, Akon says ... NBD, because "that's a white man thing." He hits the point home by saying, "Who gives a f*** about a recital" -- and goes on to list what he sees as the tenets of being a solid dad, using his own 9 children as examples.

In Akon's eyes, as long as a man can provide for his family and teach them fundamental values/morals ... all the little stuff in between doesn't really matter. That's certainly what it sounds like based on what he's saying here -- and, of course, not everyone agrees.

Akon also says if the baby mamas are on board, what difference does it make? He's kinda got a point there -- everyone seems to have an opinion on Nick Cannon's loins ... when, in reality, the only ones who are part of the equation are him, his BMs and the kiddos.

Funny enough ... we actually got Nick during the holiday season, and he somewhat spoke on this exact issue. According to NC, he's able to see all of his 11 children the same way Santa Claus gets around -- Christmas magic!

Meghan Markle and Prince Harry calling BS over a British newspaper's attempt to make peace after one of their writers penned a scathing takedown of the Duchess ... one that got so much backlash, they actually had to yank the thing entirely.

We're talking about Jeremy Clarkson's column in The Sun from a couple weeks ago, in which he suggested MM was deserving of a public flogging of sorts ... saying he dreamed of her being stripped down and shamed in the most graphic of terms.

The paragraph that drew the most outrage read, "Meghan, though, is a different story. I hate her. Not like I hate Nicola Sturgeon or Rose West. I hate her on a cellular level. At night, I'm unable to sleep as I lie there, grinding my teeth and dreaming of the day when she is made to parade naked through the streets of every town in Britain while the crowds chant, 'Shame!' and throw lumps of excrement at her."

He was referring to an infamous scene in 'Game of Thrones,' when Cersei is put through this exact type of treatment, in dramatic fashion.

Of course, his words drew the ire of many on social media ... with a ton of folks calling his words misogynistic, racist and downright evil -- just the sheer amount of vitriol he expressed for Meghan in the wake of her and Harry's Netflix special was, frankly, beyond the pale.

There were reportedly scores of complaints filed over the column, and eventually ... The Sun got the message and apologized. They said, in part, "Columnists’ opinions are their own, but as a publisher, we realise that with free expression comes responsibility."

The Sun added, "We at The Sun regret the publication of this article and we are sincerely sorry." They deleted the piece from their website and their archives as well. Clarkson even apologized, saying he'd made a "clumsy" misstep in trying to reference 'GOT.'

Welp, the Sussexes weren't having ... calling The Sun's word empty and meaningless -- especially since they, apparently, have not reached out to the one person that matters.

A rep for Meghan and Harry says, "The fact that The Sun has not contacted The Duchess of Sussex to apologize shows their intent. This is nothing more than a PR stunt."

Three busloads of undocumented immigrants were shipped to Vice President Kamala Harris' home in D.C. -- on Christmas Eve, no less ... courtesy, it seems, of Gov. Greg Abbott.

The startling scene unfolded late Saturday night, when a bus pulled up near the Veep's Naval Observatory residence in the dead of night ... and scores of people poured out in the freezing cold temperatures, which are said to have been in the teens.

A lot of them didn't have the proper attire for the weather, and they were quickly provided blankets and jackets by folks on the ground who scrambled to find them housing.

Before long, two more buses showed up ... and even more migrants were dropped off and left to fend for themselves. Good Samaritans are reported to have worked together to get as many as they could to local shelters and churches, at least for one evening anyway.

Many of the migrants are said to be asylum seekers from Ecuador, Nicaragua and other Central/South American countries, and they're all believed to have come from the TX border.

This marks the second time this year that Texas officials have transported folks like this across the country -- earlier this year, in a tag-team effort from Florida's Gov. Ron DeSantis, even more migrants were bused to both the Veep's residence and Martha's Vineyard.

The move, which many view as a cruel political stunt from the GOP, is supposedly meant to be a message about the state of things at the border ... but to do something like this on Christmas Eve is another level of messed up.

You don't want to be an MMA fighter in Chechnya, especially when your opponent is the dictator's son.

There was a ridiculous "fight" between Ali Kadyrov -- the 15-year-old son of Chechen dictator Ramzan Kadyrov -- and a dude named Islam Akbarov.

Kadyrov had Akbarov on the mat after landing a blow, and as he hovered over his opponent, the dictator's son delivered feather punches that looked anything but damaging. Akbarov was defending himself well, but the ref jumped in and stopped the fight, declaring the dictator's son the winner.

Some fans were outraged, saying the fight was clearly fixed.

As if more evidence was needed, the dictator Ramzan owns the promotion that hosted the fight.

Kathy Hilton is shutting down all the naysayers who had something bad to say about Kim Kardashian's outfit at Kathy's holiday party.

We got Kathy out in Bev Hills to get her thoughts on Kim's holiday fit ... after fans blasted her for missing the fashion memo.

Kathy makes it clear ... there was no theme for the party, and guests could wear anything they wanted as long as they were comfortable. She says there was nothing wrong with Kim's getup ... calling the whole thing silly and ridiculous.

ICYMI, the SKIMS founder rocked a cropped concert T-shirt and black leather pants, while others at the party were in festive holiday red and green ... as with many things, it didn't sit right with some folks on social media.

One user wrote, "did kim not get the message that it was a... CHRISTMAS party???" Another flat-out called her outfit disrespectful.

Whoopi Goldberg is ending 2022 by once again invoking her controversial views that have widely been considered antisemitic -- openly wondering what she said that was so bad.

The famous cohost of "The View" chatted with The Times, where her so-called "cancelation" was brought up ... and it got Whoopi on a new mini-rant about the Jewish people and whether they're a race or not -- something that got her in trouble earlier this year.

Whoopi says that Jewish people themselves are divided on whether they're actually a race or not, even quoting one Jewish friend as saying ... "Not for nothing is there no box on the census for the Jewish race. So that leads me to believe that we’re probably not a race."

The author points out what many have already said on this topic -- namely, that the Nazis viewed the Jews as a race, therefore (in this context) they should be discussed as such.

To that, Whoopi replied ... "Yes, but that’s the killer, isn’t it? The oppressor is telling you what you are. Why are you believing them? They’re Nazis. Why believe what they’re saying?"

Whoopi goes on to double down on the notion that the Holocaust wasn't about race, from her POV, by saying ... "Remember who they were killing first. They were not killing racial; they were killing physical. They were killing people they considered to be mentally defective. And then they made this decision.”

When the author points out to Whoopi that physical tests were being done to Jews to determine if they were, in fact, Jewish in Nazi Germany -- again emphasizing that Nazis viewed Jews as a race -- Whoopi pushed back and said ... "They did that to Black people too. But it doesn’t change the fact that you could not tell a Jew on a street. You could find me. You couldn’t find them. That was the point I was making. But you would have thought that I’d taken a big old stinky dump on the table, butt naked."

She seems hung up on semantics -- specifically, between race and ethnicity (which are different) -- all 'cause "Jewish" doesn't show up on the census under race. Regardless, there's no doubt Jewish identity is multi-faceted -- and Jews are, for sure, an ethnic group ... and have been seen through this lens throughout pretty much all of history.

Why Whoopi continues to nitpick this issue is beyond us, but this is definitely a 180 from her apology ... which she delivered shortly before she was suspended for two weeks.

Chris Beard's fiancée, Randi Trew, says the Texas Longhorns men's basketball head coach did not strangle her ... walking back the initial comments she made to law enforcement nearly two weeks ago that led to Chris' arrest.

Trew released a statement on Friday ... saying, "Chris and I are deeply saddened that we have brought negative attention upon our family, friends, and the University of Texas, among others. As Chris’ fiancée and biggest supporter, I apologize for the role I played in this unfortunate event."

She continued ... "I realize that my frustration when breaking his glasses initiated a physical struggle between Chris and myself. Chris did not strangle me, and I told that to law enforcement that evening."

As we previously reported, Chris, 49, was arrested in Texas after law enforcement officials charged him with a felony -- assault on a member of a family or household by impeding breath circulation.

According to court documents, Trew alleged that she and Beard had been upset at each other for a few days and were having "relationship issues" -- and claimed things finally reached a boiling point with Chris slapping reading glasses off her face and choking her with his arm.

Police said in the docs they observed visible teeth marks and redness on Randi's right forearm and an abrasion on her right eyebrow and leg. They also noted a cut to her left thumb.

"Chris has stated that he was acting in self-defense, and I do not refute that,” Trew’s statement continued. “I do not believe Chris was trying to intentionally harm me in any way. It was never my intent to have him arrested or prosecuted. We appreciate everyone’s support and prayers during this difficult time."

Beard posted a $10,000 bond and was released from custody.

This is so incredibly sad ... cops arresting and handcuffing an old lady who didn't pay her trash bill.

Thing is ... the cops were just following protocol, which means someone should start thinking about protocol.  82-year-old Martha Menefield opened the door of her Valley, Alabama home and saw 2 cops with an arrest warrant.

Martha was delinquent in paying her $77.80 trash bill and that was enough to hook her up and take her to the station.

One cop tried to comfort her, saying, "Don't cry, Ms. Martha."

Body cam vid shows one of the officers laughing at one point ... hopefully the laugh was the absurdity of arresting someone because they can't afford the basics of life.

She says she thought she had paid the bill, but the cops said they had to follow protocol, which was to handcuff her and take her to the police station.

Tory Lanez's father is blowing a gasket after watching his son's conviction in the Megan Thee Stallion shooting trial ... directing his anger at cops, prosecutors and even Jay-Z.

Ya gotta see the video ... Tory's father launches into an epic rant outside the courthouse where his son was hauled off to jail, railing against the justice system.

Tory's dad is obviously taking issue with the lack of physical evidence presented at trial ... and he's also no fan of Jay-Z.

It's unclear why Tory's pops is pissed at HOV ... but Meg is signed to Jay-Z's Roc Nation.

Tory's stepmom is also upset ... and his family says the case isn't over, so it sounds like they want Tory's legal team to file an appeal.

As you know ... Tory was convicted Friday of all three charges against him, and he's facing more than 22 years in prison, and we're told the Canadian may be deported.

Tory's parents were also steaming mad inside the courtroom ... they screamed and hollered, claiming the court system was evil before being escorted outside.

Ex-NFL star Willie McGinest is sharing his deep regret for attacking a man at a restaurant earlier this month ... saying the incident never should have happened.

"First and foremost, I want to offer my deepest apology for my lapse in judgment and behavior on December 9 at a restaurant in West Hollywood," the New England Patriots legend said. "To my family, community, friends, and youth I mentor, please know I feel horrible for my actions and take full responsibility."

51-year-old McGinest was involved in an altercation at Delilah ... with video, obtained by TMZ Sports, showing he not only punched a man -- but bashed him in the head with a bottle as well.

The former football player, who was inducted into the Pats Hall of Fame in 2015, turned himself in to cops on Monday over it all, and was booked for assault with a deadly weapon. He eventually posted bond ... and was released.

McGinest -- who also serves as an analyst for NFL Network -- was later suspended from his TV gig following the incident.

"To my colleagues at the NFL Network and those I work closely with as an advisor to professional and community-base organizations, please know I am embarrassed and regret what occurred," McGinest added.

"Most of all, I am disappointed in myself, as I know this is an isolated incident and is not reflective of my faith, role as a father, life's body of work, or the role model I've worked hard to become. It is personally devastating that decades of community service, youth engagement, mentoring, and professional development would become an afterthought in a single moment that should have never happened."

"This incident has prompted me to deep self-reflection -- mind, soul, and spirit. I know that violence is never the answer to such situations, no matter how intense the provocation. Rest assured, I will take whatever steps necessary to restore the public trust, mend damaged relationships, and ensure this never happens again."