Controversial S#!T

A pregnant woman was shot at a Walgreens after one of the workers claims to have chased her into the lot following alleged shoplifting ... which then spurred a premature delivery.

Per local reports, cops say 21-year-old Mitarius Boyd -- who's reported to have been working as the team lead on Wednesday when this horrific incident unfolded -- shot 34-year-old Travonsha Ferguson while trying to stop what he says was an active theft in progress.

Boyd reportedly told investigators that he fired his weapon at both Ferguson and another woman she was with after pursuing them to their car ... where he claims they were trying to unload a bunch of stuff they'd allegedly just jacked from inside the Walgreens.

According to him, he felt his life was in danger when one of the women started to spray him with mace -- as he says he didn't know if they had a dangerous weapon on them. In other words, he's claiming self-defense here ... and has not been arrested at this point.

Cops say Ferguson -- who's reported to have been 7 months pregnant -- was hit 8 times ... twice in each leg and four times in the stomach. She and her friend made it into the car after the gun went off, and the friend is said to have dropped her off at the ER on her own.

Doctors attended to her immediately, and she underwent 3 surgeries. During those procedures, reports say an emergency C-section was done to take out the baby ... who was miraculously not hit during all this. Both she and her child are now in critical condition.

The case is under investigation, and the D.A. is reviewing the Walgreens employee's claim -- namely, that he had to shoot in order to protect himself from imminent danger.

Jennifer Connelly (in the '90s) was way more attractive than Zendaya is today -- and she was considered pretty mid on the hotness scale ... so suggests this weekend's Twitter doofus.

Here's the deal ... a troll on the bird app has everyone fired up over a ludicrous tweet he posted Friday -- in which he tries to shade Zendaya by comparing her to Connelly ... but he inadvertently shaded JC too in the process -- and folks are stunned by his measuring stick.

This fella writes, "Any zoomer who thinks right pic is above average attractive doesn't understand that in the '90s, a '7' looked like left pic." In his tweet, he's got a photo of young Connelly next to an unflattering pic of Z ... so already, Sun Optimist is off to a biased start.

He ends with this wild statement, "'Above average' meant something else back then. There'd be like ten girls as or more beautiful than Connelly working at every chain restaurant."

In other words, this guy is saying that young women in the '90s were simply much prettier, on average, than your everyday hottie in 2023 -- and he's using Jen as an example ... by claiming you could find a million Connellys anywhere in America back then. Again, he's also saying Jen wasn't even considered a true dime in this regard ... a few notches below, in fact.

Two things ... he's a jerk for pitting these two beautiful women against each other -- but also ... a lot of people think he's dead wrong about Connelly, specifically. Many say, she IS a 10!

Zendaya is no slouch either, of course, so his entire premise is absurd. In a follow-up tweet, he says the modern "zoomer" thinks heavier-set women are the cream of the crop ... so he clearly has a bone to pick with the conversation about modern beauty standards, etc.

Not to fan the flames on this or anything, but considering Zen and Jen are knockouts in their own right ... we are somewhat curious who the public considers the lovelier dame here.

Donald Trump Jr. is trying to put the fire out on the Bud Light outrage after they teamed up with a transgender person -- and his rationale is ... they actually support the GOP.

The ex-Prez's oldest son made his pitch on his podcast, "Triggered with Donald Trump Jr.," where he opened Thursday's episode with a plea aimed at the MAGA crowd ... and, presumably, anyone else who's vowed to cut Bud Light out of their beer-drinking regimen.

He says he gets the indignation ... noting that, in his mind, Anheuser-Busch did indeed screw up by polarizing their key demographic with a stunt like this -- but he also says they deserve forgiveness considering some new intel he says he and his team have stumbled upon.

DTJ says Anheuser-Busch has actually donated a ton of money to Republican-led campaigns over the years -- including Speaker Kevin McCarthy's bid for Nancy Pelosi's job last year.

He also claims that -- according to some reporting he says he saw -- the whole Dylan Mulvaney move was actually the result of a rogue marketing employee at the company ... and that the higher-ups had no idea about it. In fact, Don says Anheuser-Busch is usually not as "woke" as its corporate counterparts -- and that they shouldn't be punished for this.

It's interesting that he's going to bat for the beer company, because they've actually taken a somewhat significant hit in the wake of all this -- reports suggest their market cap has fallen by as much as $5 billion in recent weeks ... although it's hard to say why exactly.

Some think it's a no-brainer -- the Bud Light ban appears to be working, and it's hurting their bottom line. Because of that, it seems, Don Jr.'s telling folks to stand down and buy again.

Bill Maher feels VERY strongly ... Trump's indictment in the Stormy Daniels case will backfire on Democrats, and they have hard proof right before their eyes -- the saga of Bill Clinton and Monica Lewinsky.

The 'Real Time' host made it clear ... although the Manhattan D.A. indicted Trump on falsifying campaign documents, it's really about having sex with a porn star and trying to cover it up, and that just doesn't land with most Americans.

So Bill took viewers down memory lane -- to the '90s -- when Clinton's affair with Lewinsky unraveled before the public. A special prosecutor had been looking for ANYTHING to nail Clinton, zeroing in on a land deal, but there was nothing.

So the special prosecutor pivoted to one Paula Jones, which eventually led to Lewinsky. Clinton was shamed, allegedly lied about it under oath and was ultimately impeached by the House.  And guess what happened in the end -- his approval rating soared to 73%!!!

As BM says in Trump's case ... "No matter what the underlying legalism, it's all about sex. Law is boring."

Bill thinks if Trump is indicted on the really serious, democracy-threatening matters -- like January 6th or election fraud -- it's not going to resonate as much with the public, because they'll have already seen Trump indicted on something else.

Tommy Lee is stirring up controversy on his social media page ... because he reposted a transphobic clip from far-right news network OAN.

The Mötley Crüe drummer posted the One America News Network clip on his official Instagram account Friday afternoon ... and it's being met with mixed reactions from celebs and Average Joes.

In the clip, OAN anchor Liz Wheeler is going on a rant about transgender, transracial and transabled people ... trying to get a rise out of folks with a segment light on facts and heavy on drama ... ticking off all the things she fantasizes could happen down the road.

Tommy added the caption, "Where does it end people?!?!"

The post quickly caught the attention of Questlove, who replied ... "Oan tho? #unfollow."

Tommy's friend, Criss Angel, rushed to his defense ... commenting, "100%."

The rest of the replies and comments are mostly from people condemning Tommy, but he does have some supporters out there.

OAN is known to stoke controversy ... and the network has been dropped by most major cable carriers in the United States.

LaRussell has zero fear of AI rap recordings blocking his shine amid his breakout season ... and that's because he's confident AI can't recreate the human experience!!!

TMZ Hip Hop caught up with the Oakland rapper on the music video set of his "Hell of a Feeling" collab with Symba ... who stressed to us why both hip hop culture and the Bay Area need the track.

The thought of AI made LaRussell LOL as we gauged his thoughts on the industry's hotly debated topic ... and turns out he has no concerns, despite major labels putting up roadblocks!!!

Universal Music Group recently sent out demands to Spotify, Apple Music and all the top streaming services to block AI companies crawling their platforms ... and Drake was none too pleased hearing his AI mimicked vocal rapping Ice Spice's hit "Munch."

LaRussell makes his bread as an independent artist and thinks AI can only increase his cash flow if used correctly.

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Alexi Lalas is heaping a ton of praise (and perhaps a little pressure) on the U.S. Women's National Team as they close in on a chance to make history at the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup this summer ... telling TMZ Sports they'd arguably be the greatest team of all-time if they secure a historic third straight win!

The U.S. soccer legend and great FOX Sports analyst told us the USWNT is already in rarified air with their 4 World Cup titles (1991, 1999, 2015, and 2019), but winning 3 in a row, which has never been done before, "would certainly put them in the conversation of the greatest team ever."

Lalas likes the USWNT's chances in the event -- which features 32 teams (eight more than in 2019) -- and will be held in Australia and New Zealand, but says other countries are looking to "spoil the party," so winning it all won't be an easy task.

"The rest of the world has started to catch up," Lalas said. "They are putting more resources in. That's a good thing. Competition is a good thing. You have the likes of England, France, and Germany and our friends up to the north, Canada, and the Netherlands.

"Yes, we want to win every single game," Lalas said. "Yes, we want to win more World Cups, but we want it to be competitive. I want the U.S. to win, but I might want England not to win it even more. Anybody but England winning, I'll be cool with."

Despite the competition gap closing, Lalas believes USWNT head coach Vlatko Andonovski has enough to win it all because of stars like Alyssa Thompson, Dennis Rodman's daughter, Trinity Rodman, and Julie Ertz, who happens to be married to NFL tight end Zach Ertz.

FYI, the U.S. are slight favorites to win the whole tourney.

Tuesday marked the 100-day countdown to the world's biggest soccer tournament, airing on FOX Sports and FS1.

Bhad Bhabie is really in love with her BF ... she even got his name tattooed on her chest.

TMZ obtained photos of Bhad Bhabie's new ink, which reads "Le Vaughn" in red cursive script, on the left side of her chest ... between her shoulder and breast.

Bhad Bhabie, aka Danielle Bregoli, didn't stop there ... she also got "1111" tattooed in red ink on her neck to cover up a previous tattoo, just above her boyfriend's name, in another nod to her man.

The "1111" tattoo appears to reference Le Vaughn's birthday, because he posted a pic of Bhad Bhabie's new ink on his social media with the caption "Scorpio 11:11 iykyk" ... Internet slang for "if you know, you know."

Bhad Bhabie's boyfriend also got her first name and middle name tattooed on his neck ... he went with black ink and cursive script letters spelling out "Danielle Marie."

It's interesting ... Bhad Bhabie's been defending their relationship and the tattoos on social media, saying ... "I love that man whether y'all like it or not, yall gonna talk regardless."

Remember ... Bhad Bhabie celebrated her 20th birthday just three weeks ago, twerking and lap dancing on her mother during an intimate gathering at her home.

The Dallas Mavericks season may be over, but the team's still making headlines -- the NBA fined the organization $750K for resting several key players like Kyrie Irving vs. the Bulls in the second-to-last game of the season, with the league accusing the team of losing on purpose.

The league announced the hefty punishment Friday ... explaining the Mavs violated the league's player resting policy on April 7 in the game with Chicago to improve their chances of keeping their first-round draft pick in the 2023 NBA Draft.

NBA executive VP Joe Dumars condemned Dallas for the move ... saying the team's actions "undermined the integrity of the sport," adding their actions "failed our fans and our league."

The Mavs were tied with the Bulls for the tenth-best lottery odds heading into the matchup ... and would have owed the Knicks their first-round pick if they beat Chicago, going back to terms agreed on during the Kristaps Porzingis trade.

The NBA launched an investigation after Dallas rested several key players -- Kyrie Irving, Christian Wood, and Tim Hardaway Jr. -- even with the team's play-in tournament hopes still alive. Luka Doncic played the first 12 minutes and 35 seconds but missed the rest of the game.

Dallas head coach Jason Kidd seemed to confirm the idea of resting their players in the crucial game came from upper management ... but said he agrees with his bosses' decision.

The short-handed Mavericks took Chicago down to the wire ... but ultimately lost their final two games, finishing the regular season with a disappointing 38-44 record after reaching the Western Conference Finals last season.

Drake isn't going for AI technology mimicking his vocals to rap Ice Spice's "Munch" ... and now his label, Universal Music Group, aiming to take down ALL AI versions of its artists.

On Friday, Drizzy drew the line in the sand after his faux Ice Spice mashup surfaced ... calling it the "final straw" in a haystack of artificial art.

Drake's reaction aligned with the new report that UMG demanded Spotify, Apple Music, Tidal and all streaming platforms block AI versions of their artists and their copyrighted songs.

UMG is calling the clean-up a "moral and commercial" responsibility to the industry, but not everyone shares the same pessimism on the topic.

Raquel Leviss is getting treatment at a mental health facility on the heels of her affair with Tom Sandoval going public.

TMZ has confirmed the "Vanderpump Rules" star recently checked herself in.

ET, who was the first to report the story, says Raquel made the decision with her family to seek treatment. What's interesting is ... she reportedly made that decision before the so-called "Scandoval" became a thing.

A source claims she had planned to start the treatment before the reunion taping last month, but decided to officially wrap up the season before going. It's unclear what kind of treatment she's getting, but a rep for Raquel tells TMZ ... "she isn't there for rehab, but rather mental health and trauma therapy."

TMZ broke the story ... Raquel and Tom were together behind Ariana Madix's back for quite some time, but it all came to the surface last month when Ariana found sexual texts exchanged between the duo.

Since then Tom and Raquel have been dragged through the mud, in public, and at the taping for the 'VR' reunion ... and as we reported, things were so tense things almost got physical between some cast members.

We've also learned Raquel spent time with Tom in his hometown around the holidays -- while he was still dating Ariana, which is why his family didn't want to meet her.

Lolo Jones has some strong (albeit playful) words for Shaquille O'Neal after the NBA legend called Angel Reese LSU's G.O.A.T. ... telling TMZ Sports Diesel had to be "high" when he made the statement.

Jones -- who starred for LSU's track team before competing in BOTH the Summer and Winter Olympics -- got wind of O'Neal referring to Reese as the greatest athlete to ever come out of Baton Rouge on his 'Big Podcast' this week, and she vehemently disagreed with her fellow Tigers alum.

In fact, she seemed to think Shaq wasn't in his right mind since undergoing surgery last month.

"Shaq knew what he was doing," Jones said. "Shaq's just bored. He's coming off hip surgery. He's chilling at home. I think Shaq, honestly, is high on some pain medicines. The list is so big with LSU."

Jones -- a decorated hurdler and bobsledder -- feels Shaq was trying to stir the pot by saying Reese is LSU's top-ranked athlete ... knowing that it makes for good "water cooler talk."

"So, for Shaq to have the audacity to say 'she's the best ever,'" Jones continued, "I'm like, 'Bro, chill on the pain meds,' because that list is arduous. So long."

Jones -- who won three NCAA titles and earned 11 All-American honors as an LSU Tiger -- said she wouldn't put herself at the top of the list of the university's G.O.A.T. athletes.

But, don't get it twisted -- Lolo told us she isn't disrespecting Reese ... saying, "We're not hating on Angel. We love to see it. She's cooking. Let her keep cooking. But I'm telling you, LSU track and field is the powerhouse for that university."

Everything really is bigger in Texas ... including prison sentences, because a man is potentially going to spend the rest of his life behind bars for spitting at police officers during his arrest.

A Lubbock jury handed down the headline-grabbing punishment Wednesday for 36-year-old Larry Pearson ... who was found guilty of 2 counts of harassment of a public servant.

Prosecutors say Pearson spit at 2 Lubbock PD officers who arrested him in May 2022 on domestic violence charges after a woman told cops Pearson hit her in the face.

According to prosecutors, Pearson was upset the alleged victim was not arrested instead, and started kicking at the doors in the cop car where he was being held ... and he spit at the officers when they opened the car door.

Prosecutors say the spitting didn't end there ... claiming Pearson kept hocking loogies upon arrival at the Lubbock County Detention Center.

During the trial's closing arguments, prosecutor Jessica Gorman asked jurors to consider a sentence that would "send a message" to not only Pearson, but also society ... and he ended up getting 70 years.

Pearson also had prior convictions for family violence and aggravated robbery, and, as a result, the minimum sentence the jury could impose was 25 years.

The guy's no angel, for sure, but there's a huge gap between 25 and 70 years! And, for a crime like spitting ... that seems extreme. Even in Texas.

Courtney Clenney's lawyer, Frank Prieto, tells TMZ ... "Courtney will defend this civil matter as vigorously as the pending criminal case. It is important to note that the Plaintiff (Estate of Obumseli) filed suit against the security company, building management company, and the owner's of the apartment that Courtney rented."

"The Estate is seeking wrongful death damages in hopes of getting a huge payout because these companies have very high limits on their insurance policies. Courtney has no assets that the Estate can collect on."

Prieto adds ... "Courtney was a victim of domestic violence and her actions the evening of April 3, 2022 were taken to save her life. Once she is vindicated in the criminal matter, the civil case will also fall apart."

Courtney Clenney, the OnlyFans model accused of murdering Christian Obusmeli, is being dragged to court by her slain boyfriend's family ... they want her to pay for his funeral.

According to a new lawsuit, obtained by TMZ, Christian's estate is suing Courtney and others for negligence related to his brutal stabbing death.

In the docs, the estate says it racked up a ton of expenses for Christian's medical care and funeral arrangements ... and they want Courtney to help foot the bill.

What's more, the estate is demanding damages from Courtney to cover past and future mental pain and suffering for Christian's family ... plus past and future loss of his future support and services to his fam.

Remember ... Courtney is charged with second-degree murder for Christian's April 2022 stabbing death.

She was arrested 4 months after the fatal incident, and while she admits stabbing him ... she claims it was done in self-defense.

All along, Christian's family has believed Courtney killed him in cold blood ... and the family has previously told us they hope she's convicted and sentenced to life in prison.

We reached out to Courtney's camp about the lawsuit ... so far, no word back.

The Women's Tennis Association is returning to China ... ending a one-and-a-half-year boycott imposed after tennis star Peng Shuai accused a high-ranking Chinese government official of sexual assault.

Now, the WTA says after talking to their players and the tournament representatives, they'll return to China later this year ... but they're standing by their decision to stay away at the time.

“The stance that we took at the time was appropriate. And, we stand by that. But, 16 months into this, we’re convinced that our requests will not be met. And, to continue with the same strategy doesn’t make sense,” WTA Chairman Steve Simon told the AP from Florida.

The unfulfilled requests were for a full and transparent investigation into Peng's accusations ... something that never happened. Simon says despite not getting what they wanted, the WTA hopes they can effect positive change from inside the country.

“Our members believe it’s time to resume the mission in China, where we believe we can continue to make a positive difference, as we have for the last 20 years, while at the same time making sure that Peng is not forgotten. By returning, hopefully more progress can be made.”

The decision is sure to ruffle some feathers ... but the WTA says the "great majority" of their athletes support the choice to go back.

In 2021, Shuai -- formerly the #1 ranked doubles player and Wimbledon winner -- claimed a Chinese politician sexually assaulted her several years prior. She later backtracked, saying she never accused Gaoli of sexual assault.

After revealing the alleged behavior, Peng seemingly disappeared ... and fans and colleagues across the world, including tennis stars Naomi Osaka and Novak Djokovic, expressed concern for her.

The man behind the massive leak of secret U.S. documents that exposed our spying on allies and the dire situation with Ukraine's war against Russia reportedly worked on a military base and released sensitive information in an online chat forum during the COVID pandemic.

Since the document dump last Friday, FBI agents have been working furiously to track down the culprit, while the Pentagon has cut the number of people who have access to the type of classified material that was leaked.

But, it appears the Washington Post has beat the feds to the punch. According to a new report in WAPO, the suspect, identified only as "OG," joined the invitation-only platform, Discord, in 2020 because he felt a kinship with the other members, who were also gun enthusiasts and lovers of God.

OG was seen as a leader of their small network because he claimed to possess confidential information withheld from the general public. But, at first, his fellow members paid no mind to the bizarre acronyms and unfamiliar technical jargon OG used in his often long posts.

Then one member started zeroing in on OG's messages and put two and two together. Indeed, OG's information was coming directly from classified intelligence reports.

WAPO says OG admitted to taking the documents home from his job on a "military base," which barred employees from having electronic devices inside the secure facility for fear they would photograph the sensitive information.

OG told the group that he spent hours formulating the intelligence reports so he could share them on Discord. The online platform was mainly a place where members would go to swap memes, tell jokes and make idle banter during the height of the pandemic. OG, however, used the platform to pontificate about world affairs and secret government ops.

One member told WaPo OG wanted to “keep us in the loop,” and believed his inside knowledge of government secrets offered protection from threats posed across the world.

The member added, “He’s a smart person. He knew what he was doing when he posted these documents, of course. These weren’t accidental leaks of any kind."

As you know, highly classified military documents about the Ukraine/Russia war recently surfaced online, making Pentagon officials panic. The leaked information pointed to holes in Ukraine’s air defense systems and revealed private assessments by allies, including the U.S., on intelligence matters.

A top Pentagon spokesperson has described the leak as a “very serious risk to national security."