Controversial S#!T

Kanye West appears to be out and about, searching for inspiration ... because while he was out shopping with his wife, he was joined by a famous fashion designer.

Kanye and Bianca Censori went shopping Thursday on Melrose Place, with 424 designer Guillermo Andrade serving as the third wheel.

Ye hanging out with a fashion designer is interesting -- as you know, he's been dropped from Balenciaga, Adidas and Gap -- and it hints at a potential fashion collab down the line.

Kanye was back in a brown jacket, similar to the one we last saw him in a few weeks ago when he and Bianca stopped at a gas station ... another departure from his typical all-black look.

Meanwhile, Bianca was in black spandex and black boots ... with a beanie over her signature bleach-blonde short hair.

The shopping excursion seemed fruitless as the stars came up empty-handed ... aside from Bianca grabbing a bite from a food truck.

It will be interesting to see if anything comes out of this ... at least fashion-wise.

Colin Kaepernick says that his adoptive mother, Teresa Kaepernick, told him in high school his cornrow hairstyle was "not professional" and made him "look like a little thug."

Kaepernick -- who wore cornrows as a teenager like his hero Allen Iverson -- detailed the rocky relationship with his adopted parents in his new novel, "Change the Game," admitting the situation was tough to navigate.

"I know my parents loved me, but there were still very problematic things that I went through," Kaepernick told CBS. "I think it was important to show, 'No, this can happen in your own home.' And how do we move forward collectively while addressing the racism that is being perpetuated."

The 35-year-old -- who led the 49ers to the Super Bowl in his second season in the league -- recalls he and his parents getting into a fight over his hair, and his mom saying, "He's getting what rolls?"

Colin, who is biracial, said the trials and tribulations he endured as a teenager at the hands of his parents played a big role in why he sported cornrows as an adult.

Kaepernick hasn't played in the NFL since 2016 ... but he let it be known (again) that he's actively working out and staying in shape in case an opportunity presents itself.

TikTok users worried the U.S. government is gearing up to ban the platform might have good reason to feel that way ... according to the U.S. Senator spearheading those efforts.

We got Sen. Mark Warner Thursday as he was leaving FBI headquarters in Washington, D.C., and asked what if any advice he had for the millions of influencers making a good living on the app. His answer is, Charli D'Amelio and co. need to be as concerned as politicians are about who's collecting their information.

ICYMI ... Warner and Sen. John Thune introduced a bipartisan bill this week that would give President Biden wide-ranging power to restrict TikTok use, or flat-out ban it, if there's reason to believe China is gathering U.S. citizens' data from TikTok's Chinese parent company, ByteDance.

The White House has already said it supports the legislation -- which applies to all foreign technologies, not just TikTok -- but Congress has yet to put it to a vote.

Sen. Warner acknowledges there's "a lot of great things happening on TikTok," but says Congress can't be concerned with that ... not if national security hangs in the balance.

IF there's a ban -- as was threatened years ago under the Trump administration -- Warner says TikTok users shouldn't be too concerned, because he's certain a new app would quickly spring up to host the hot new dance challenge.

Shannon Sharpe is a man of many words ... but the NFL legend dropped one you definitely can't say while on live television on Thursday -- accidentally muttering the F-word!!!

Sharpe used the TV no-no on "Undisputed" while in a heated convo with his cohost, Skip Bayless ... as the two were discussing the Clippers and Russell Westbrook.

Sharpe tried to make an analogy ... when, suddenly, an F-bomb flew outta his mouth.

"If I'm making fried chicken and somebody says, 'I got some chocolate for you,'" Sharpe said. "What the hell? Yeah, I like chocolate but what the f*** that have to?"

The FS1 commentator immediately caught himself ... and said, "Oops, sorry!"

He then joked, "You got me up here cursing, Skip," before finishing his thought, "Why would I need chocolate to go with fried chicken?"

Sharpe eventually continued making his point to Bayless ... and both men agreed the Clippers were better off before they added Russ to their team.

Of course, this isn't the first time the guys have used some PG-13 language on the show ... Skip recently accused Mavericks star Luka Dončić of "bitching" about foul calls.

Logic's recent cover of Ice Cube's iconic track, "It Was A Good Day," was universally panned, and Joe Budden feels it's a sign 'o the times ... for Logic to officially join him in permanent rap retirement!!!

Budden went in on the Maryland-born rapper on a recent episode of his podcast "The Joe Budden Podcast" ... urging him to never promise his fans another record because his music is now "really, really bad!!!"

JB admitted he enjoyed ribbing Logic from time to time in the past, but admits he's soured on him since his 2017 suicide awareness track "1-800-273-8255" -- but, he says turning Cube's classic into a folk song is an unforgivable hip hop infraction.

Budden also accused Logic of pandering to the Black community for years due to his own identity crisis. That being said, it can all be forgotten ... as long as Logic tosses his mic!!! 😭

Country singer Clay Walker is in hot water after getting caught on audio berating his bus driver ... but Clay tells us it went down a year ago, and it's all water under the bridge.

Clay starts by saying he could easily whup the driver's ass. The singer also claims the driver didn't show on time ... and Clay is PISSED.

It's pretty harsh ... and just when it sounds like all is said and done, Clay finds another reason to call him out.

While this is clearly an intense one-sided convo, Clay tells TMZ ... "This happened over a year ago, and it came at the end of a long, tough weekend. The bus driver and I reconciled immediately, and we are friends and stay in touch.”

FYI -- Clay's been in the country game since his debut record in the early '90s ... first topping the charts with his single, "What's It to You."

Who's the greatest MMA fighter ever??

Demetrious Johnson, who's absolutely in the conversation, says it's an impossible question to answer because "we've all done amazing things in this sport of mixed martial arts." But, forced to answer, Mighty Mouse says it's the newly crowned heavyweight champ Jon Jones ... following his dismantling of Ciryl Gane at UFC 285.

"I've had the longest consecutive title defense, and I've also had 14 world title fight wins. I believe he's at 15 [straight] now. You look at GSP. I think he took four years off and he fought in 2013 against Johny Hendricks. Then he came back in 2017 and beat Michael Bisping, who was a champion. You look at Anderson Silva, we've all done amazing things in mixed martial arts."

The former longtime UFC champ turned ONE Championship champ told us he "always felt" Jon was the G.O.A.T., and actually believes he could've beaten 247 lb. Gane without gaining any weight.

"Jon Jones, what he did to Gane Saturday night, I mean, he took him down and choked him out. I truly believe he could've done that at 205 [lbs.]"

"The one thing that separates those guys from me, those guys have gone up and competed and won a world championship in a different weight class, where I haven't.

"Henry Cejudo's done it, Jon's done it, Randy Couture's done it, the list just goes on and on of all the guys who have done it, and that's one thing I haven't done."

Fighters like Couture, Georges St-Pierre, and Khabib have all retired, so they're done adding to their resumes. But, Mighty Mouse isn't. He's still very much fighting with ONE, and he's got a big fight coming up.

DJ's fighting Adriano Moraes on May 5 ... one of the best ONE matchups. The guys have fought twice previously, with each man winning once.

Michael Irvin's attorney says he's finally seen the video of the interaction the NFL Hall of Famer had with his misconduct accuser last month ... and he claims the footage shows his client did nothing inappropriate with the woman whatsoever.

Levi McCathern told reporters at a press conference in Dallas on Wednesday afternoon he was able to view the Marriott footage this week after a court ordered the hotel giant to turn it over in a ruling earlier this month.

He says Marriott representatives wouldn't provide him with a copy of the vid -- nor would they allow him to record it. But, he said the clip -- which was captured on Feb. 5 at the Arizona establishment -- showed an innocuous meetup between the hotel worker and Irvin regardless.

McCathern claims you can see Irvin and the woman initially meet up behind a pole in the hotel's lobby -- before they come into clear view of the camera.

McCathern says Irvin can be seen only touching the woman four times -- once with an initial handshake, twice on the elbow, and once more with a handshake to say goodbye.

"She never acts upset," McCathern said of the woman's demeanor on the video. "She doesn't act like there's any problems at all."

McCathern then brought out two witnesses on Zoom who said they were in the lobby when the meeting went down. Both told the room of reporters they didn't see anything inappropriate between Irvin and his accuser.

Irvin, meanwhile, was present at the press conference -- and he did speak to media members ... calling the whole ordeal "sickening."

"This takes me back to a time where a white woman would accuse a Black man of something and they would take a bunch of guys that were above the law, run in the barn, put a rope around his foot and drag him through the mud and hang him by the tree," he said.

Irvin -- who later broke down in tears while the witnesses recounted their memories of the evening -- added that he has still yet to see the video of his encounter with his accuser.

The Justice Department has released its findings related to the death of Breonna Taylor ... saying the Louisville PD has a pattern of civil rights abuses in the years leading up to her death.

The results of the department's federal investigation were released Wednesday -- saying the  Louisville Metro Police Department has a history of alleged civil rights abuses and excessive force misconduct ... starting years before Taylor's 2020 killing.

The report, obtained by TMZ, says police committed a slew of other violations over the years ... including violating the rights of those engaging in free speech, conducting searches without proper warrants, and most notably unlawfully executing search warrants without knocking.

It states the Louisville PD has "practiced an aggressive style of policing that it deploys selectively, especially against Black people, but also against vulnerable people throughout the city." It also says police leaders have often brought up ways to improve, but nothing's ever been done.

As you know, Taylor was shot dead nearly 3 years ago by police officers attempting to perform a search at her apartment. Her death sparked nationwide outrage, with many claiming the cops didn't announce their presence properly before bursting in.

Tony Yayo isn't vibing with Lil Uzi Vert's recent performance where he chanted he "made a City Girl" believe in Satan -- in fact, Tony doesn't even wanna touch the topic with a 10-foot pole!!!

TMZ Hip Hop caught the G-Unit rap star Tuesday in NYC, and he thinks Uzi took things too far during his Rolling Loud California set ... and really didn't have advice for Uzi's girlfriend, JT of City Girls, about whether she should run for the hills.

Yayo tells us he grew up in the church, so he's allergic to all things Satanic ... a stark contrast to the strong critique R&B superstar Summer Walker leveled at Uzi.

Summer questioned whether he's actually the devil's advocate, or just following the trend in rap that pumps up "demons" at every turn.

Chris Rock can, and should, joke about whoever he wants -- especially after being slapped by Will Smith -- even if some feel it's at Jada Pinkett Smith's expense ... according to 2 fellow comics.

We talked to Bill Bellamy and Jeff Dye Tuesday on "TMZ Live," and both defended CR's right to joke about the sitch, even if he did so somewhat mercilessly during his latest Netflix special ... which is now drawing the ire of some Black women.

Candace McDuffie, a senior writer for The Root, went so far as to suggest Chris actually had the slap coming to him after years of jokes she feels targeted Black women.

That's not how Bill and Jeff feel about it, though ... they're squarely on Chris' side, with BB telling us the dude used his own platform and creativity to address it as best he could, without violence.

Plus, there's the financial benefit -- Netflix paid a boatload for his "Selective Outrage" special.

But, even on the issue of whether Chris has it out for Jada and/or Black women ... Bill says he doesn't believe that to be the case. He says Chris takes shots at everyone, and sometimes certain groups might catch a stray.

It's nothing personal, just the business of being funny ... that's Bill's perspective anyway.

Now, Jeff -- who's hosting our new game show, "Who the Bleep Is That?" -- was a bit more forceful in his repudiation of suggesting Chris deserved what he got ... saying such a notion is insane, and disavowing the idea of anything or anyone being off-limits in comedy.

All hell broke loose between JJ Redick and Kendrick Perkins on "First Take" Tuesday morning ... with the two former NBA players going at it over the league's tight MVP race.

Redick and Perk have been bickering over the topic for the past week ... with the Boston Celtics champ accusing MVP frontrunner Nikola Jokic of stat-padding to win the award -- and implying white NBA reporters have a bias toward white players when it comes to voting.

Fast-forward to Tuesday, when Redick bashed Perk's notion race had anything to do with the MVP race ... saying, "What we just witnessed is the problem with this show, where we create narratives that do not exist in reality."

JJ continued ... "The implication, what you're implying, [is] that the white voters that vote on NBA are racist. That they favor white people. That is exactly what you stated. We all know what you implied the other day. We all know what you implied just now."

Perkins vehemently disagreed with Redick's criticism ... screaming at the former NBA star-turned-commentator ... saying, "I stated the facts and you not about to sit up here and act like it's something more than that."

In case you missed it, Perk explained his side last week ... saying, "When it comes down to guys winning MVP since 1990, it’s only three guys that won the MVP that wasn’t top 10 in scoring -- Steve Nash, Jokic, and Dirk Nowitzki. What do those guys have in common?"

Kendrick doubled down on his position after JJ's callout on Tuesday ... tweeting, "Last year I was a c***. This year I’m a racist. Well damn, which one is it? IT’S NEITHER. I call out facts and not afraid to address the elephant in the room."

Eric Bellinger understands his longtime collaborator Chris Brown's perspective when he hurled a fan's phone deep into the audience last week, but ultimately thinks it was overkill.

We caught up with EB at LAX, where he assessed both sides of CB's interaction last week with a fan in Berlin. In Eric's view ... the fan wanted to capture the moment firsthand, while Chris felt like his intimate performance was the moment.

EB couldn't help but laugh at Chris' zany nature at the end of the day and noted being the lead performer with dancers, bright lights and an earpiece can be a lot to take on.

The Grammy winner also felt like Chaka Khan was out of pocket when she referred to Mary J. Blige's rendition of her "Sweet Thing" classic track as "flat" ... before apologizing when fans went on the warpath on social media.

Like many fans, EB disagrees Mary's version was flat and notes both iconic singers have totally different styles and strengths ... pointing out how Chaka can't bop on stage like Mary!!!

Chaka blamed her acidic comments on her disdain for Rolling Stone's best singers list and EB thinks her apology was much needed.

Kevin Gates doesn't agree with Melle Mel that Eminem's race gives him white privilege when it comes to hip hop props, and, personally, he's got Marshall in his Top 5 ... dead or alive!!!

We caught the "Bread Winner" rapper ahead of his bang-up Rolling Loud California set and he defended Em ... saying the fact he wrote the iconic track "Stan" back in 2000 should be enough to put him near the top of anyone's list.

Billboard's 50 best rapper list has stirred up emotions left and right, and Melle's just the latest artist to skewer it after he was placed at #48, while Em was #5.

KG acknowledges Melle's right to his own opinion, but says he doesn't see people as "black or white" ... just "real and fake," but ultimately he doesn't care the Furious Five legend is yapping about the list.

What Kevin does care about these days is eating and living healthy ... the primary reason he partnered with Ambrosia Collective last year for his custom line of superfood supplements and products.

He copped to being somewhat of a fair-weather vegan, though, on account of some of his bedroom activities with his woman, if you get our drift. If ya don't ... watch the clip.

Suge Knight's son was one of the many folks laughing his ass off at Chris Rock's 'Suge Smith' line ... but he's certain Will Smith's got nothing on the OG!!!

Suge J. Knight tells TMZ ... it was pretty dope to hear his dad's name thrown in during CR's comedy set -- even though it wasn't a positive reference, and his father will remain behind bars for years to come.

He says, "We all know Suge Knight as that guy who's all about that action. It's funny to see that Suge has been in jail for a minute but he still has this legendary status."

As we reported, Chris finally addressed Will infamously slapping him at the Oscars during his live Netflix special, "Selective Outrage."

CR didn't hold back at all, and the reality is ... calling Will "Suge Smith" was probably the most gentle jab Chris threw at him or his wife, Jada Pinkett Smith.

Comedian Mike Epps could be facing serious legal trouble -- TMZ has learned authorities in his home state say they found a loaded gun in one of his bags at an airport.

According to legal docs, obtained by TMZ, police responded to a firearms investigation Sunday at the Indianapolis Airport ... with cops being told TSA found the gun while Mike was going through the checkpoint

The docs say the comedian mentioned being in town for a show, and forgot the piece was in his bag. Upon investigation, police say they found a .38 Special Airweight with 4 rounds loaded, but none in the chamber.

The gun and ammo were all taken as evidence.

Officials for the Indianapolis Airport police tell TMZ ... Epps wasn't arrested, but the report was forwarded to the Marion County Prosecutor's Office to determine if charges should be filed.