Controversial S#!T

Students at Kanye West's Donda Academy are being deprived of the education they deserve, but the parents should be concerned if they try to go somewhere else -- so says one of the teachers suing the rapper over the school.

Former Donda teacher Cecilia Hailey's now giving a word of warning to parents, telling TMZ they're severely behind educationally -- but that doesn't mean moving somewhere else will instantly correct the problem.

She says the kids aren't getting graded at the unaccredited school, so transferring could be problematic.

Cecilia's worried about the students' futures ... angry the kids are way behind on the learning curve.

As we reported, Cecilia and her daughter claimed they were fired from their teaching gigs at Donda after calling out the school's flaws ... also saying race was a factor.

Cecilia tells us Kanye might not be involved with the school's issues, although she's named him in the suit. She listed numerous problems with Donda, BTW -- including a lack of chairs, locked front doors, and no lesson plans. She also complains the only item on the lunch menu was sushi.

It seems some 'Star Wars' diehards can't deal with Lizzo and Jack Black's cameos on 'The Mandalorian'  ... 'cause they're calling their appearances the death of the franchise. Yeesh ...

Here's the deal ... the 2 A-listers popped up on last week's episode of the hit Disney+ show, and it ruffled some feathers in the 'Star Wars' fanbase. Some thought the series, and the IP as a whole, had jumped the shark ... and that the magic of 'SW' was over and done with.

That sentiment came to a fever pitch this weekend with one dude's now-viral tweet ... which has spurred a lot of discourse about who, exactly, 'Star Wars' was made for in its original iteration ... and what it's come to represent now. Check out how this fella put it.

The Twitter user writes, "#StarWars isn't for us nerds anymore. We who respect the lore & would be in tears after being cast in one of the movies or shows. Star Wars is now for the popular kids who giggled & high-fived the bullies for stuffing you in your locker."

He adds with some doom and gloom, "It's crashing and #Disney deserves it." Jesus, dude!

The fanboy's thoughts were quite divisive on the bird app, with many responding to his tweet with confusion and shock. Basically, they feel like he's overreacting -- and that 'Star Wars' can (and should) be for everyone ... not just the locker-dwellers from the '70s and '80s.

While many tried shutting this guy down/laughing him off, there's a lot of folks who actually agree with him -- claiming Disney's just out for big names and brands ... and that 'Star Wars' has devolved into a soulless money grab. The Mouse House is definitely out for cash, no doubt, but ya gotta figure they have the best intentions with hires like Lizzo and JB.

Of course, the opinion of an OG goes a long way too ... Billy Dee Williams weighed in on this, and he's cool with Jack and Liz being in the family. That's gotta count for something.

Bu Thiam's role as EVP at Columbia Records has him scoping for new artists from all walks of life ... and he's looking to add NCAA champ Flau'jae Johnson to his roster!!!

We caught up with Bu at LAX and he had nothing but praise for Flau'jae, who recently helped the LSU Tigers win their first women's basketball national championship ... in controversial fashion at that.

Bu says he looked into Flau'jae's credentials and everything checked out, as it should have. The 19-year-old's been rapping long before it became trendy on the Internet ... going viral through appearances on "The Rap Game," "America's Got Talent," and her 2020 "Sway In The Morning" freestyle.

She inked a deal with Roc Nation management last year ... so, at least Bu knows who he needs to convince for a joint venture.

As a music exec, Bu also has to be mindful of the industry's changing landscape ... and he's surprisingly open to the idea of artificial intelligence artists, unlike some of his counterparts, like Swizz Beatz, who's expressed concern.

AI recordings mimicking the likes of Drake, Kendrick Lamar, J. Cole and Kanye West are littered all over YouTube ... but Bu thinks the industry needs to be more open-minded and embrace the technology.

Chris Pratt took a lot of crap when he was announced as the voice of Mario for the new 'Super Mario Bros.' flick -- but now that the product is out ... the consensus is, he's aight.

The critics/amateur critics have sounded off on Twitter these past few days, weighing in on whether CP did the iconic video game character justice in the first animated feature-length film -- and from the looks of it, sounds like most everyone thinks he did a decent job.

Specifically, the term that keeps getting thrown around for his voice work is ... "fine."

As Polygon put it, Chris is "Aggressively Fine" as Mario ... and it would appear others feel the same. In other words, it ain't a groundbreaking performance ... nor does it move the needle in voice acting. But, the guy got the job done -- and wasn't distracting doing it.

If you're wondering what exactly he sounds like -- which has mostly been kept under wraps -- well, you can just go see it ... or look for snippets on Twitter. In either case, you'll see that Chris used a mash-up of accents ... mostly honing in on an Italian-American one that you might hear in Brooklyn. Throughout the film, he also slips into classic cartoonish Mario-isms.

While Chris might've been serviceable, the movie itself has gotten pretty awful reviews -- with some calling it soulless. Others, meanwhile, say it's a hoot ... especially for the kids.

Of course, all that matters to the studio heads are those box office numbers ... and so far, 'SMBM' is on its way to a stellar start. It's already on pace to hit $195 mil domestically through Sunday.

Donald Trump is doing what he tends to do best in times of crisis -- hitting the links to blow off some steam ... with this weekend being no different for him amid his criminal case.

The ex-Prez was playing a round Saturday morning at his hotel in Miami ... the Trump National Doral, which has four full-blown golf courses to choose from. Unclear which one DT was on in this instance, but he was out there with some pals ... and his MAGA hat to boot.

Dude looks pretty relaxed ... which makes sense, we suppose. This is sorta his happy place, even during the worst of times -- as we've witnessed throughout these past several years.

The only difference now, of course, is that he's under criminal prosecution by the Manhattan D.A.'s Office on 34 felony counts -- most of which stem from the Stormy Daniels hush money incident ... which law enforcement now alleges was directed to be paid at the behest of DT.

He's looked/sounded defiant in the wake of those charges -- especially when he was in NYC this past week to plead not guilty and get processed by cops ... putting on a brave face.

Here, the Don's more mellow, it seems, and there's another thing to consider with this appearance -- namely, the fact that it's Passover right now for Jewish folks ... and not just that, but his hotel there is actually hosting a whole slate of Passover events this weekend.

Elon Musk appears to be flip-flopping on whether Twitter considers NPR to be state-run media -- although it's unclear if he's gonna take that label off their account.

The Twit-in-Chief was directly asked about this by an NPR reporter this week ... and when he was shown the hard numbers on where NPR gets its funding -- with only 1% of it coming from the U.S. government, and a majority of it coming from donors -- he relented a bit.

According to the journo -- citing an email exchange he says he was having with Musk personally -- EM apparently didn't understand the difference between public media and state-sanctioned media ... and replied, "Well, then we should fix it" as it pertains to NPR's status.

Musk then supposedly asked for the breakdown of their finances, which the reporter says was provided to him ... to which Musk then apparently responded, "The operating principle at new Twitter is simply fair and equal treatment, so if we label non-US accounts as govt, then we should do the same for US, but it sounds like that might not be accurate here."

Earlier in the day, Musk said NPR's new state-affiliated media label --  which Twitter has yet to remove -- seemed "accurate." But now, based on this new reporting, it sounds like he's not sure. Musk reportedly told this reporter Twitter would mull over a final decision.

Of course, NPR is not state-controlled media -- unlike the ones in North Korea, China and Russia ... it's a nonprofit news org that operates independently and has provided accurate reporting for years. In light of Twitter's designation, NPR has stopped tweeting altogether.

Jorge Masvidal vs. Leon Edwards is the fight fans badly want ... and while they're almost certainly not gonna get it next, Dana White says it's closer than you might think.

The UFC honcho joined Babcock on the "TMZ Sports" TV show (airs weekdays on FS1) ... when we asked Dana whether Gamebred could do enough to jump Colby Covington and earn the next title shot.

"Let me tell you what's going to happen, if [Masvidal] goes in and does that against a guy like Gilbert Burns, who I have a ton of respect for, Gilbert Burns is an absolute badass. Then you have Colby Covington vs. Leon Edwards, and if Leon Edwards beats Colby Covington, the history between Leon Edwards and Masvidal, then they both win these fights, that fight will be so huge people will be dying to see that fight."

White then added ... "it will be absolutely massive, and maybe we do it back in Miami."

FYI, Masvidal told us earlier in the week he felt he could impress enough vs. Burns at UFC 287 to garner the Edwards scrap.

Of course, White declared Covington next in line after Rocky beat Kamaru Usman at UFC 286, but many fans want Jorge and Leon to scrap because the men have serious beef.

The two fighters were involved in a backstage altercation in 2019 after Edwards yelled something at Masvidal as he was being interviewed backstage after beating Darren Till.

It's not Masvidal's personality to take something like that lying down ... so he walked up to Rocky and punched him in the face, now known as a "3-piece and a soda."

Hoping to ruin Jorge-Leon is 36-year-old Burns ... the number 5 ranked UFC welterweight.

We recently talked to Burns, coming off a dominating win over Neil Magny, before he headed out for fight week ...

There's a bunch more with Dana ... we asked him if this was Israel Adesanya's last shot to beat his rival, Alex Pereira. We also talked to White about the new UFC-WWE deal ... and whether we could now see stars like Conor McGregor cross over to professional wrestling.

Tony Yayo -- the rapper who inspired John Cena's famous "You Can't See Me" gesture -- is speaking out against those criticizing LSU hoops star Angel Reese for waving her hand toward Iowa star Caitlin Clark ... saying, "When a Black girl do it, it's a problem, but when a white girl do it, it's not a problem."

TMZ Sports spoke with the G-Unit MC -- who was trending this past week after Reese's celebration during last Sunday's NCAA championship game -- and he told us the criticism she's been receiving is "kind of crazy."

Yayo said trash-talking in sports is part of the game ... adding he understands the emotions athletes experience when competing, especially for a national championship.

Yayo -- who recently wrapped up a tour with 50 Cent and is gearing up to release new music this summer -- said Reese is popularizing women's basketball ... and she's elevating the sport to newer heights.

"You got Lil Wayne calling her phone," Yayo said. "You got Boosie excited over LSU. This championship was big. Everybody knows who Angel Reese is now, as well as Caitlin Clark."

Tony said he's proud of how Reese has handled herself during the controversy ... and doesn't want it to diminish what the LSU Tigers accomplished, winning the program's first NCAA women's basketball national championship.

"I just don't want all this stuff to overshadow the win," Yayo said. "There are other people on the team. There's a great coach [Kim Mulkey] over there. I'm definitely looking up to anybody that's a role model to Black women in this world."

Diamond Dallas Page says he was overcome with emotion watching Cody Rhodes fight Roman Reigns for the WWE Undisputed Universal Championship at WrestleMania ... and tells TMZ Sports despite Cody coming up short, he knows he'll eventually win the title.

We spoke to DDP at LAX on Wednesday ... and the king of the Diamond Cutter told us he thinks Cody losing to Roman on "The Grandest Stage of Them All" will make him even more popular amongst WWE fans.

"When you're really over ... When it's done right [and] when the people are behind it, it doesn't matter who wins or loses," Page said. "He went and made AEW. Came back to here [WWE]. They were so happy to have him back because they knew what a talent he was."

"I couldn't be any prouder of the cat," Page added. "Very emotional for me."

Of course, some wrestling fans were confused by WWE's decision to keep the title on Reigns instead of giving it to Cody, who won the Royal Rumble in January -- but Page believes it's inevitable Rhodes becomes WWE champ ... explaining this is a part of the process.

Page feels Cody has no reason to be disappointed he didn't win Sunday. DDP said Cody's father, Dusty Rhodes, is proud of his performance in the main event against Reigns, who needed help from The Bloodline and Paul Heyman to defeat the American Nightmare.

DDP praised Cody for how he responded after tearing his pectoral muscle last summer before a match against Seth Rollins ... and for rehabbing as hard as possible to put himself in a position to be in the main event at WrestleMania.

WWE apologized on Friday for showing a photograph of the Auschwitz concentration camp where more than 1 million Jews were murdered ... during a WrestleMania promo Saturday night.

The company faced backlash from fans, media, and even the Auschwitz Memorial once it became clear they used the image to promote the Rey Mysterio vs. Dominik Mysterio match.

But now, the WWE is apologizing, saying they had no idea the image was used.

"We had no knowledge of what was depicted. As soon as we learned, it was removed immediately,” the company told The Washington Post.

It remains to be seen if the explanation will be enough ... the Auschwitz Memorial ripped into WWE before the apology, saying, "The fact that Auschwitz image was used to promote a WWE match is hard to call 'an editing mistake.'"

"Exploiting the site that became a symbol of enormous human tragedy is shameless and insults the memory of all victims of Auschwitz."

According to Auschwitz Memorial's website, the Germans established Auschwitz in 1940 in German-occupied Poland during World War II, and it was the largest of the Nazi concentration camps.

Caitlyn Jenner is furious with Nike over its new endorsement deal with Dylan Mulvaney ... saying the sneaker giant is going "so woke" by throwing money at the trans influencer, but not Olympic hero Allyson Felix.

The former decathlete weighed in on the social media star's partnership with the Swoosh on Thursday ... and her issue isn't with Mulvaney -- she actually commends Dylan for securing the bag.

Instead, Jenner is pissed at the move because Felix -- a seven-time Olympic gold medalist -- claimed Nike offered her a 70% pay cut and denied her requests for maternity protections after she got pregnant in 2017. She let her contract expire, and she went on to sign with Athleta.

Jenner is using Felix's experience to get her take across ... saying, "As someone that grew up in awe of what Phil Knight did, it is a shame to see such an iconic American company go so woke!"

"We can be inclusive but not at the expense of the mass majority of people, and have some decency while being inclusive. This is an outrage."

It's worth noting -- it's unclear how much Mulvaney is making from the deal ... but as someone who has close to two million followers on Instagram alone, you can assume she got a solid chunk of change.

Jenner isn't the only Olympian fuming over Mulvaney's deal -- silver medalist Sharron Davies called for folks to boycott Nike ... labeling it "a kick in the teeth" to women.

Swimming star Riley Gaines says she was attacked by protestors on Thursday night and forced to barricade inside of a college classroom for hours ... after she gave a speech arguing that transgender athletes shouldn't be allowed to compete against biological females.

The heated confrontation went down at San Francisco State University's campus in Northern California ... where Gaines had arrived to speak with students at a Turning Point USA event.

In her chat with a small gathering inside of a classroom on campus, Gaines -- who famously spoke out against the NCAA and transgender swimmer Lia Thomas earlier this year -- explained why she believes trans athletes have an unfair advantage over biological women.

But, minutes into her talk, she was interrupted by a group of protestors ... who only got louder and louder throughout the night.

Eventually, Gaines said as she made her way out of the classroom ... trans activists who had entered the building to object to her stance attacked her.

"I was ambushed and physically hit twice by a man," she said of the scene on her Twitter page. "This is proof that women need sex-protected spaces."

Gaines shared a video of her encounter with protestors inside of the SFSU campus building ... showing her in a blue sweater being ushered to another classroom by police as people hurled chants and insults at her.

SFSU's student-run media outlet, the Golden Gate Xpress, reported Gaines was forced to stay locked inside of the classroom with police protection for roughly three hours.

Cops ultimately ordered people to disperse -- and Gaines, a former swim champ at the Univ. of Kentucky, was able to leave safely.

Gaines' agent, Eli Bremer, blasted the protestors in a statement to Fox News Digital after the event ... saying, "It is stunning that in America in 2023, it is acceptable for biological male students to violently assault a woman for standing up for women’s rights."

Bremer added, though, it would not impact Gaines' decision to speak out going forward.

Caitlyn Jenner voiced her support for Gaines after she became aware of the incident, writing in a tweet, "Pray for Riley Gaines! You are a courageous voice of reason, an incredible athlete, and beyond brave. Praying!!!"

We've reached out to both SFSU officials and the San Francisco Police Dept. for comment on the matter ... but so far, no word back yet.

You'd think Barbie fans would be more than satisfied with the latest trailer for the Margot Robbie flick ... but some have a serious question for those who worked on the movie -- where's the freakin' Aqua song?!?!

That's right, fans are scratching their heads at this week's new look at Warner Brothers' "Barbie" -- with many calling the absence of Aqua's "Barbie Girl" a HUGE missed opportunity.

Check out the responses to the missing 1997 hit ... one says it'll be heartbreaking if the song doesn't make the cut.

Another fan points out, the trailer starts with Ken, played by Ryan Gosling, shouting out "Hi Barbie!" ... with Margot responding, "Hi Ken!" ... just like in the Aqua track.

When the movie was first announced, Ulrich Møller-Jørgensen -- manager for Aqua lead singer Lene Nystrøm -- said the track wouldn't be used but never explained why.

Of course, there's been a legal battle between Mattel and Aqua. The toy company filed suit against MCA Records back in 1997 for distributing the track -- Mattel was concerned it would hurt the brand. Aqua came out victorious in the end.

Even Barbie is controversial these days ... jeez.

Lizzo and Jack Black's cameos in the latest episode of "The Mandalorian" is a casting choice 'Star Wars' icon Billy Dee Williams can get behind -- and he gives us his thoughts as to why the team picked them for the series.

ICYMI, spoilers -- Lizzo and Jack can be found in Episode 6 of the Disney+ series' third season ... appearing in a scene as the queen and king of Plazir-15. And, of course, people went nuts.

Billy tells us he's backing the choice wholeheartedly -- pointing out how franchises are always coming up with new ways to grab a younger audience.

He sees it as good business and understands what the crew was thinking with Lizzo and Jack, even if die-hard fans of the series are the ones marking it as a dumb move.

It's debatable, but some online think the two just aren't believable in the 'Star Wars' universe ... because of how recognizable they are. The franchise has had a slew of cameos in the past, but some fans seem to have had enough -- looks like Billy sure hasn't.

BTW -- Christopher Lloyd also popped up in the same episode, but people weren't as concerned with an unscheduled visit from Doc.

Kanye West's private Christian school only feeds students one thing for lunch, sushi, and they apparently have to eat it on the floor without tables or chairs ... this according to a new lawsuit.

Ye and his Donda Academy are being sued by two Black women who say they were fired from teaching positions at the school for two reasons -- retaliation for sounding the alarm on alleged education, health and safety code violations -- and for their race.

According to the lawsuit, obtained by TMZ, the women say they were the only Black teachers employed by Donda Academy when they were hired full-time earlier this year ... and they say it didn't take long for them to notice numerous health and safety violations, unlawful educational practices and extremely unusual rules at Kanye's school.

Among the alleged issues ... the women say the only lunch option available for students is sushi, every single day, and students are not allowed to bring any outside food or drink, except for water. The suit claims Kanye spends $10,000 a week on sushi.

What's more, the teachers claim Kanye did not allow crossword puzzles or coloring sheets at Donda Academy, classes could not take place on the second floor because Kanye is "afraid of stairs," and Ye didn't want children using forks or utensils.

The suit alleges Kanye did not allow artwork to be hung on walls, and no one was allowed to wear jewelry ... simply because he "did not like jewelry."

The teachers even claim Kanye didn't allow chairs, forcing children to sit on foam cushions or stand, while teachers were relegated to standing or using a stool.

Donda Academy, the suit says, required everyone to wear all black from head-to-toe ... and Nike and Adidas brands were forbidden.

The teachers claim the school doors were physically locked from the outside during the school day, and students weren't allowed to go outside until they went home ... with the entire school, pre-kindergarten through 12th grade, taking lunch and recess at the same time indoors.

The suit claims Donda Academy didn't have a janitor or a school nurse ... and there were no trashcans outside classrooms or in the kitchen. Meanwhile, they say student medications were stored in a closet with other expired medications just scattered around unsecured.

And, get this ... the teachers claim there are no lesson plans or proper disciplinary procedures in place, resulting in students going undisciplined for multiple instances of bullying and physical assaults against peers and teachers.

The teachers claim when they tried to run the alleged issues up the flagpole, they were threatened not to reach out to Kanye.

The women say they were ultimately fired ... and they're blaming their termination on retaliation and racial discrimination. They also claim their paychecks were often short up to $2,700 per pay period ... so they're suing Kanye and Donda Academy for money.

We reached out to Kanye's camp ... so far no word back.

Donald Trump may be public enemy No.1 in the eyes of some ... but not to Jorge Masvidal -- the UFC star visited the former President at a rally in Florida Tuesday evening hours after 45 was arraigned in NYC.

Masvidal says he was invited to Mar-a-Lago ... the same night Trump returned from the northeast aboard his private jet, where he appeared before a judge in a Manhattan courtroom, pleading not guilty to 34 felony charges.

"I didn't even sneak in here," Masvidal can be heard saying before he enters Trump's event. "This is Trump Nation."

During the packed rally, Trump ripped Manhattan D.A. Alvin Bragg for what DT says is a politically motivated attack.

“This fake case was brought only to interfere with the upcoming 2024 election and it should be dropped immediately,” Trump told the crowd, which included Jorge.

Of course, the charges relate to a $130k hush money payment made to porn star Stormy Daniels during his first presidential campaign.

DT also sounded off on Judge Juan Merchan, calling him a "Trump-hating judge."

It's unclear if Masvidal got any FaceTime with Trump -- the resort was packed.

The visit shows Jorge is still rockin' with his friend, despite the world's most polarizing man now facing criminal charges ... though it's not really surprising.

Trump and Masvidal have a friendship. Jorge even stumped for the former prez as he ran his re-election campaign in 2020.

Now, the question is, might Donald make an appearance this Saturday in Miami ... where Jorge Masvidal is fighting Gilbert Burns in the co-main event at UFC 287.