Controversial S#!T

The person who concocted, recruited and ultimately turned on scores of parents who tried bribing their children's way into good colleges is about to get sentenced, and prosecutors say he's the worst of all and should be sentenced to 6 years.

Rick Singer will be formally sentenced next week, and TMZ has obtained a copy of document prosecutors just filed, saying Singer "was the architect of a massive, decades-long scheme to use fraud and bribery to secure admission of high school students to elite colleges and universities across the country."

Prosecutors say Singer profited from the scheme more than anyone and therefore deserves a much harsher sentence than the parents, coaches and others received.

As for comparisons ... more than 50 parents, coaches and associates of Singer's received sentences ranging from probation to 30 months.

Lori Loughlin received 2 months, and Felicity Huffman 14 days.

Prosecutors want an additional 36 months of supervised release, and restitution to the IRS in the amount of $10,668,841. They want millions more in other penalties.

Here's the thing ... 6 years ain't so bad, because the max was 65 years behind bars.

As for why the relatively light sentence ... Singer cooperated and was the key to convicting the parents and others. The docs refer to Singer making hundreds of recorded calls at the government's direction. He wore a wire as well to nail the targets. Prosecutors say if it wasn't for Singer, most of the parents who were convicted would have gotten off.

A disgusting verbal attack on two TikTokers eating at an In-N-Out has led to charges for one man after the video went viral.

The clip, filmed on Christmas Eve inside a California In-N-Out shows a Korean male and his female friend sitting at a table and trying various menu items from the fast food joint.

You hear a man -- seemingly unprovoked -- ask if the pair are filming themselves eating and then ask if they're Korean or Japanese. When the TikToker says he's Korean, the man goes into a racist and homophobic tirade, accusing the TikToker of having sexual relations with Kim Jong-un.

After the verbal exchange, the TikTokers claim the man waits for them outside for quite some time -- you can tell just how freaked out the two are during the video.

Turns out, San Ramon Police Chief, Denton Carlson, got wind of the video and not only tracked down the TikTokers -- but conducted to an investigation to find the man who was allegedly making the disgusting remarks.

Congressman-elect George Santos would not know the truth if it hit him in the face, because now it's come out he lied about his mom dying from the 9/11 attacks.

Santos saw a post last year about a ridiculous 9/11 conspiracy theory -- that it was a victimless crime -- and responded, "9/11 claimed my mother's life, so I'm blocking so I don't ever have to read this again."

Here's the thing ... five months after posting that, he posted this ... "December 23rd this year marks 5 years I lost my best friend and mentor ... Mom you will live forever in my heart."

So, in the latest tweet, he's saying his mom died in 2016, 15 years after the attack.

Santos claimed on his campaign website his mom was in the South Tower on Sept. 11, adding she survived but passed away "a few years later" from cancer. But, 15 years?

This is the latest in a string of fundamental deceptions by Santos, including lying that he went to NYU and Baruch for college yet they have no record of him. Ditto his claims he worked for Citigroup and Goldman Sachs. And of course, there's the lie that he was Jewish and he explained it by saying he was Jew-ish.

Where in the world is Kanye West?

Ye's ex-business manager says Kim Kardashian's ex has been playing a cat-and-mouse game for weeks, all over a lawsuit.

The biz manager, Thomas St. John, is suing Ye for $4.5 mil and is frustrated because he can't serve him with the necessary legal docs, this according to the US Sun.

The suit, over unpaid fees, can't move forward until Kanye gets served, either directly or through other means. St. John says he can't find a legit address on Ye.

Kanye has been spotted several times in the last 2 weeks ... both times in L.A.

TMZ broke the story, Kanye's been leading a nomadic life for months, traveling here and there and not really having a home base.

As for St. John and Kanye, that relationship blew up last January, according to St. John, when Ye screamed at him in aggressive fashion and pulled the plug on their relationship.

The Jewish Federation of L.A. is fighting antisemitism with billboards all over the city ... and the org.'s CCO believes it can help thwart the proliferation of hate.

Rob Goldenberg joined us on "TMZ Live," telling us all about his org.'s new campaign -- focusing on harmony and love, while looking to shut down hate toward Jewish people.

He underscores the negativity's ramped up in recent years, and believes now's the time to bring positivity into the equation.

FYI -- the Federation's billboards use ancient Jewish texts as inspirational messages ... and with L.A. having the 2nd largest Jewish population outside of Israel, they've partnered with Outfront Media to spread the word.

Police have all but cleared a University of Idaho professor accused by a TikTok user of ordering the brutal murders of 4 college students.

Moscow PD released a statement Tuesday, saying that at this time "detectives do not believe the female associate professor and chair of the history department" is involved in the slayings. Not only that, but police have not publicly ID'd a single suspect after 6 weeks of investigation.

Professor Rebecca Scofield filed a federal suit last Wednesday, claiming Ashley Guillard posted TikTok videos accusing Scofield of ordering the fatal stabbings of Kalyee Goncalves, Maddie Mogen, Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin.

According to the suit, obtained by TMZ, Guillard has over 100,000 TikTok followers and received 2.5 million likes on the Scofield videos, damaging the professor's reputation.

In the docs, Scofield denies any connection to the crimes, stating that she was visiting friends in Oregon at the time of the November 13 massacre. Scofield also says she didn't know any of the victims, nor did they take any of her classes. All 4 victims were attending the University of Idaho.

The suit describes Guillard as an Internet sleuth who purports to have solved high-profile murder cases, such as the shooting death of Migos star Takeoff, by simply reading tarot cards.

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.