Controversial S#!T

Tupac Shakur's biological father Billy Garland is revealing he initially hated his late son's classic tribute "Dear Mama," because Pac labeled him a "coward" ... and told the world he was dead when he's clearly alive.

He's also not a fan of Hulu's record-breaking docuseries "Dear Mama: The Saga of Afeni and Tupac Shakur" ... as he claims director Allen Hughes tricked him into doing an interview for the project.

The ex-Black Panther recently voiced a gang of gripes with Tupac tribute channel "The Art of Dialogue," where he explained he'd been attempting to find Tupac for several years after being separated, and realized "someone" had lied to him about his existence.

Billy was able to get over the disses in 'Mama,' and now calls the song "beautiful" ... while also claiming he bumps his son's music daily.

Allen Hughes isn't getting the same pardon from Billy, who says he feels FX's 'Dear Mama' blindsided him. He says he didn't know his testimony would be leveraged against the legacy of Afeni.

Billy says had he known Allen's true intentions, he wouldn't have sat done for the interview. He also takes issue with the project's insinuation Tupac suffered from bipolar disorder.

Matty Healy put Taylor Swift in a pretty sticky situation recently -- it involved a troubling podcast appearance he'd made -- but we've learned that controversy is NOT the reason they're no longer dating.

A friend connected to Matty's band, The 1975, tells TMZ ... Taylor was aware of Matty's remarks about Ice Spice on the podcast before she started dating him. While it's true her fans applied plenty of social media pressure over it, the friend tells us Matty and Taylor were used to the noise, and simply blocked it out.

ICYMI ... Matty went on the "The Adam Friedland Show" back in February, where Nick Mullen, Friedland and Matty openly laughed and made derogatory comments about Ice Spice ... even mocking her with Chinese and Hawaiian accents.

Amid Matty and Taylor's romance, the clip resurfaced online last month, along with a separate interview clip of Ice expressing her love for The 1975. BTW, all of this was brewing as Taylor and Ice prepared to release their collab, "Karma (Remix)."

Awkward timing to say the least, and although Matty ultimately apologized for offending Ice, some fans felt his mea culpa lacked sincerity. The podcast episode has since been scrubbed from several platforms.

Nevertheless ... we're told all the Swiftee angst over that is not at the root of them pulling the plug on their relationshp -- and, instead, it has more to do with the fact they simply don't have time for each other.

Everyone knows Taylor's Eras tour is packing stadiums across the U.S., and will for a few more months -- and Matty's friend points out The 1975 is in the middle of its European tour now.

We're told they still care for each other, even though things didn't work out romantically.

Things are really heating up for Prince Harry on the stand in his tabloid privacy case, getting grilled by the opposing attorney for failing to show actual proof of his claims.

The Duke of Sussex's cross-examination continued Wednesday ... where his lengthy witness statement was picked apart -- namely, pointing to the fact the guy hasn't brought any actual evidence of phone hacking, including alleged data Harry has cited.

Harry's explanation for this, so far, has been his suspicion that the Daily Mirror journos he alleges were spying on him/hacking his phone were probably using burners to cover their tracks ... plus the fact all this stuff happened so long ago, well over a decade at this point.

Then, some nitty gritty ... the opposing attorney, Andrew Green, went through several different stories that are at the center of the case -- and he broke down, one by one, why Harry thought phone hacking and/or spying was at the center of these gossipy pieces.

For example, a few articles were brought up from the mid-2000s referencing his relationship with his ex-GF Chelsy Davy -- details of which the Mirror reported on back then, including break-ups/ ups and down they'd gone through, which PH believes were reported on via illegal news-gathering tactics.

However, when pressed on why he thought that, he revealed that the unnamed "palace" sources cited in the stories couldn't have known about those things ... because he says he never discussed those things with any palace officials. There are also details from phone calls the two had that were reported on -- which cited friends as the source -- and Harry said he thought those were hacked from his voice mails.

What Green pointed out, however, is that a lot of these stories the Mirror did were actually out in other outlets too -- and sometimes even originated from other outlets, including American gossip mags -- and that they often cited anonymous sources who claimed to be in the know. What Green was getting at ... perhaps people in Harry's inner circle and/or people who worked for or with the palace provided the info, without any hacking whatsoever.

Essentially, Green was making the point that it's quite commonplace for outlets to get what some might consider inside info from well-placed sources ... and that citing anonymous sources is, oftentimes, exactly how a tabloid publication may have gotten the scoop.

Harry pushed back though ... insisting much of the content reported on by DM could've only been obtained by accessing his private records/correspondence. Green said Harry was "living in a land of total speculation" about where the info might've actually come from -- and Harry said he disagreed. They also butted heads at other points in the cross ... at one point, Green interrupted Harry (who kept turning to the judge) to say -- "Could I ask the questions?"

Long story short ... Green was making the case that a lot of what Harry's griping about had either already been out and reported on, usually citing anonymous sources, or that the Daily Mirror's stories were reported on with info that was easily accessible to the public. Harry called BS on that -- but when pressed on deets, he didn't seem to have any smoking gun. Just a lot of conviction and firm belief -- which Green consistently questioned and doubted.

Chris Licht's gamble on Donald Trump has come up snake eyes -- CNN is pulling the plug on his term as CEO.

Licht's firing comes exactly one month after he engineered the network's controversial Town Hall special with the GOP Presidential front-runner. Licht made a play for Trump's base, and did draw more than 3 million viewers that night ... but the blowback from CNN's viewership and Democrats in D.C. was severe. The network's ratings plummeted in the days after the Trump special.

CNN anchor Kate Bolduan drew the honors Wednesday morning of announcing Licht's firing on the air. It wasn't quite a "ding dong, the wicked witch is dead" moment ... but, make no mistake, Licht had ruffled a lot of feathers at the network.

Last week, he was also the subject of a pretty unflattering profile piece in The Atlantic, and he reportedly apologized to CNN staffers earlier this week.

Licht took over at CNN in May 2022 ... after Jeff Zucker's resignation. During his tenure, he clashed several times with Don Lemon over his on-air commentary and even his wardrobe -- and Licht finally fired him back in April.

Mick Mars' legal war with his former band, Mötley Crüe, is set to play out in court, for all to see -- but the Crüe is making a move to take it behind closed doors, despite Mick's protests.

According to new legal docs, obtained by TMZ, Mötley Crüe is asking a judge to send this case -- kick-started by Mick's lawsuit in April -- into arbitration, where they say it belongs ... and where it will be out of the public's eye.

Mick's lawyer, Ed McPherson, tells TMZ ... "This is yet another attempt by bullies to hide the truth!"

In their filing, attorneys for MC say several different entities have been created over the years to handle varying aspects of the band's biz -- things like touring and recording -- and those agreements contain binding arbitration clauses.

Translation: All grievances that might come up among members, must be handled in private arbitration, instead of airing them out in public courts

You'll recall ... this battle is all about Mick, their longtime guitarist, claiming the Crüe unfairly and unjustly cut him out of touring and his share of tour profits ... after Mick was diagnosed with a debilitating bone disease.

The band's called BS, arguing they were actually trying to do him a solid based on his condition, and even tried to give him fair compensation ... but they say Mick's going about this the wrong way by filing a lawsuit

Bottom line is ... Mötley Crüe's asking the judge to send the matter to arbitration.

Jackie Robinson wrote a fiery, handwritten letter to a fan who was pissed off at the Dodgers legend over remarks he made about the Holocaust in early 1969 ... and now, the actual note is for sale for $150k.

Robinson, 50 at the time, addressed the letter to Milton Sacks, a Jewish man who attended Jackie's February 24, 1969 talk at a bank in New Jersey, and Milton wasn't pleased with some of the comments made by the Hall of Famer.

"Being a Jew, I am naturally very sensitive when an attempted genocide which resulted in over 6,000,000 Jews being exterminated in a short period of time is treated very lightly and made to seem insignificant as compared to '140,000,000 Blacks,'" Sacks wrote to Robinson, believing the legendary player downplayed the Holocaust.

Sacks also asked Robinson to provide his source for the statistics on how many Africans died during slavery.

At the time, a local NJ newspaper described Robinson's comments ... "[Jackie] reminded the audience of the mass murders of Jews during World War II, but said that during the slave trading years, an estimated 140 million blacks were killed."

The paper wrote Robinson said ... "That figure was the population of the United States in 1945," adding, "That's something to think about."

Jackie, who clearly didn't agree with the assertion, crafted a handwritten response on "JACKIE ROBINSON" letterhead.

After beginning with a pleasantry, Robinson fired back ... "I was surprised by your sensitivity. How can you say 6,000,000 murdered Jews seemed insignificant regardless of the number of slaves killed."

Jackie continued ... "What difference does a number make one would have been too many and it seems to me you are overly sensitive and it does surprise me. I resent your inference and usually say to 'hell' with individuals who feel as you do about the fact 140,000,000 blacks were killed."

Robinson then invited Sacks to call him on the phone the following week so he could reveal his sources. It's unclear if the conversation ever occurred.

Milton's typed letter to Jackie is also included in the sale.

Robinson, a 6-time All-Star and 1949 NL MVP, is one of the most important figures in the history of American sports. The second baseman broke MLB's color barrier in 1947.

A prominent 9/11 memorial organization is teeing off on the PGA's decision to join forces with the Saudi-backed LIV Golf tour ... saying the move is nothing but an act of betrayal.

9/11 Families United -- a group of thousands of family members whose loved ones were killed or impacted during the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks -- tells TMZ Sports it is "shocked and deeply offended" by Tuesday's news of the PGA/LIV merger.

"PGA Commissioner Jay Monahan co-opted the 9/11 community last year in the PGA's unequivocal agreement that the Saudi LIV project was nothing more than sportswashing of Saudi Arabia's reputation," chairman Terry Strada, whose husband died in the World Trade Center's North Tower, said in a statement.

"But now the PGA and Monahan appear to have become just more paid Saudi shills, taking billions of dollars to cleanse the Saudi reputation so that Americans and the world will forget how the Kingdom spent their billions of dollars before 9/11 to fund terrorism, spread their vitriolic hatred of Americans, and finance al Qaeda and the murder of our loved ones."

Of course, the 9/11 hijackers had strong ties to Saudi Arabia. Fifteen of the nineteen men who carried out the attack were citizens of the Middle Eastern country. Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden was also born in Saudi Arabia in 1957.

Despite the hijackers largely coming from Saudi Arabia, the country has always denied playing any role in the terrorist attack that killed nearly 3,000 people. The FBI and CIA have also stated Saudi Arabia was not behind the attacks.

"Make no mistake – we will never forget," Strada added.

Monahan is well aware of the backlash directed at players who jumped to LIV last year -- he was previously asked about 9/11 Families United calling it an act of betrayal at the time ... and he felt it was necessary for those athletes to apologize to those affected by the terrorist attacks.

It's safe to say the 9/11 org. no longer feels his words were sincere.

"Mr. Monahan talked last summer about knowing people who lost loved ones on 9/11, then wondered aloud on national television whether LIV Golfers ever had to apologize for being a member of the PGA Tour. They do now -- as does he. PGA Tour leaders should be ashamed of their hypocrisy and greed."

"Our entire 9/11 community has been betrayed by Commissioner Monahan and the PGA as it appears their concern for our loved ones was merely window-dressing in their quest for money – it was never to honor the great game of golf."

A tourist at Yellowstone National Park could find himself in jail, and it's all because of some videos of him running up to bears ... which park officials say is against the law.

Yellowstone rangers are reportedly on the hunt for the tourist, who is going viral for all the wrong reasons. The social media clip shows him hopping out of his car and charging at a bear, at least twice ... grunting, growling and barking at the wild animal.

In the footage, posted to an Instagram account dedicated to shaming Yellowstone tourists, the bear books it away from the tourist ... running off into the woods. The man then turns back to the camera, ripping his shirt off and flexing.

Yellowstone officials have seen the video and say they're investigating ... telling Cowboy State Daily the man could face criminal charges for disturbing wildlife, disorderly conduct and approaching wildlife.

Remember ... the National Park Service has strict rules in place at Yellowstone, where visitors are required to stay at least 100 yards away from bears and other animals.

Yellowstone officials also say the man could be fined $5,000 and thrown in jail for up to 6 months if convicted on the misdemeanor charge.

Pete Davidson is going to war with PETA over the new dog he bought, and he fired the latest shot via a profanity-laced voice mail for the animal rights group -- a move he doesn't regret, but says came from a place of grief.

PETA says the actor left the heated message Monday for the org's Senior VP of Cruelty Investigations, Daphna Nachminovitch. He got her name because she'd issued a statement to TMZ, expressing PETA's collective disappointment in Pete buying a puppy at an NYC pet store instead of adopting from a shelter.

On the voice mail, Pete announces himself and says he's responding to Daphna's statement, which he calls uneducated and premature. He notes he's allergic to dogs -- as his rep told us -- and that's why he had to get a cavapoo, a nearly hypoallergenic breed because they don't shed.

He also says the dog is for his mother, whose previous pup just died.

Then comes an expletive-laced diatribe that might rival Christian Bale (not really, though) ... in which he angrily tells Daphna to do her research before talking to media, drops an F-bomb and makes a vulgar suggestion involving his penis.

PETA isn't backing down, though, telling TMZ, "If Pete had done his research, he would know that there’s no such thing as a hypoallergenic dog, that at least a quarter of dogs in shelters are purebreds, and that Petfinder has listings for homeless dogs of every breed under the sun, including the one he purchased."

We contacted Pete about his furious voice mail, and he admits he was unaware he could "adopt a specific hypoallergenic dog." He says he was told "it wasn't an option, and if it was, it was rare."

As for his anger, he addressed that by emphasizing his family was really going through it after his mother's dog died -- "I haven't seen my mom and sister cry like that in over 20 years. I was trying to cheer up my family. I was already upset that the store had filmed me without my permission or acknowledgement. Then this organization (PETA) made a public example of us, making our grieving situation worse. I am upset. It was a poor choice of words. I shouldn't have said what I said, but I am not sorry for standing up for myself and my family."

Prior to Pete offering that explanation, PETA told us ... "Our hearts go out to the Davidson family for the loss of their dog, but Pete must know in his heart that there's no excuse for buying a dog and propping up the puppy mill industry when millions of dogs await loving homes in shelters, and we hope he'll do the right thing and adopt next time."

It's clear neither side is blinking in the shop vs. adopt a dog debate.

After more than a year of bitter arguing that included lawsuits and public feuds, PGA Tour is merging with Saudi-backed LIV Golf ... and a lot of the players are pissed!

The stunning announcement was made Tuesday morning, with the companies saying they'll form a new, yet-to-be-named organization -- news that some of the PGA Tour players say totally blindsided them.

Collin Morikawa, the 18th-ranked player in the world, clearly had no idea the merger was in the works, Tweeting ... "I love finding out morning news on Twitter"

Another pro, Wesley Bryan, expressed anger over the merger.

"Love finding out info on twitter. This is amazing. Y’all should be ashamed and have a lot of questions to answer."

Bryan fired off another message ... "I feel betrayed, and will not be able to trust anyone within the corporate structure of the PGA TOUR for a very long time"

Tuesday's announcement was especially shocking because of the disdain the organizations have had for one another since LIV launched.

Aside from just being a business dispute, a lot of Americans were against LIV because of its tie to the Saudi Arabian government. In fact, LIV Golf is backed by Saudi's Public Investment Fund (PIF), controlled by the Crown Prince. A majority of the 9/11 hijackers (15 of 19) were from the country.

Jay Monahan, Commissioner of the PGA Tour, once posed the question ... "Have you ever had to apologize for being a member of the PGA Tour?," in response to blowback on American golfers who took large checks from LIV.

Monahan was talking about several high-profile former PGA Tour players who bolted for LIV, including Phil Mickelson who reportedly received around $200 million to join the org. Dustin Johnson left too, reportedly getting $125 million. Brooks Koepka reportedly got $100 million.

Not all players took the big money ... Tiger Woods reportedly turned down a whopping $800 million offer, while Rory McIlroy reportedly said no to $500 million.

Elliot Page says a guy hurled a transphobic threat at him last year -- something he says has become a reality since coming out as transgender in 2020.

The actor's in the middle of a promo tour for his new memoir, telling the Los Angeles Times about an incident that went down in 2022 in L.A. ... claiming some man yelled at him while he was walking to a convenience store in WeHo.

Elliot says the man screamed, "I'm going to f****** gay bash you, f*****." He also claims the man followed that up by yelling, "This is why I need a gun!" -- this after EP had gone inside and asked employees for help.

He goes on to say that it left him shaken, but he noted he was fortunate enough to be able to afford resources -- like private security, etc. -- that could shield him from wackos ... whereas other trans people might not have the luxury.

In an excerpt from his book, the actor says an A-lister once told him -- pre-transition -- that he wasn't gay and that being gay didn't exist ... with this star apparently insisting Elliot was just afraid of men.

Prince Harry didn't hold back during his first day of testimony in London's High Court, where he trashed the British press as he made his case over years-long alleged privacy breaches.

The Duke of Sussex was on hand, in the flesh, Tuesday ... where he hit the witness box early and reportedly read from a witness statement he'd prepared to discuss the allegations he's levied against the Daily Mirror -- the first tabloid case of his being heard.

His statement was reportedly 55 pages long, touching on everything from former associates/employees of Princess Diana -- including her ex-butler, Paul Burrell, whom he called a "two-faced s***" -- to voice mails of his that he claimed were accessed before he could ever hear them.

There's one compelling line about how he felt during the mid-2000s through the early 2010s ... the period of time at issue in the alleged phone hacking/spying case. Harry said, "Despite the common misconception, I was no more than 5% funded by the taxpayer while I was a working Royal in the UK, yet it felt as though the tabloid press thought that they owned me absolutely, and deserved to know everything there is to know about me, my life, my movements and the lives of those people who came into my orbit."

As for why he felt his phone was being hacked ... he described getting notifications for new voice mails on his phone back then -- but then seeing the notification disappear before he could even hear the audio. He says this happened often.

There's more ... Harry said stories that ran during this time about him possibly having been fathered by James Hewitt were incredibly hurtful to him, and harmed his mental health -- sparking fears he'd be ousted from the Royal Family amid speculation.

And lastly, he took direct shots at Piers Morgan ... whom he alleged was the one signing off on the alleged spying/hacking, as the guy was top dog at Daily Mirror at the time. He also alleges Piers is behind recent Mirror attacks against him and his wife, Meghan Markle.

One final telling quote from Harry ... "How much more blood will stain their typing fingers before someone can put a stop to this madness?" When cross-examined on that remark, PH responded ... "Some of the editors and journalists that are responsible for causing a lot of pain, upset and in some cases, speaking personally, death."

There was further cross-examination, in which attorneys for the Mirror asserted the articles he's suing over had actually already been written by other outlets -- and that the Mirror was simply riding the news cycle at the time with their own versions.

A Stanley Cup Final reporter looked more athletic than a lot of the Florida Panthers did on Monday night ... using some quick-thinking reflexes to keep an obnoxious fan out of her live shot.

The wild moment all went down toward the end of the Golden Knights' 7--2 blowout win over the Panthers in Las Vegas ... when Samantha Rivera was trying to recap Florida's loss on camera.

As the CBS Miami reporter was setting the scene at T-Mobile Arena for her viewers ... a fan tried to photobomb her shot -- and Rivera was having absolutely none of it.

You can see in a replay of her on-cam appearance, Rivera had to use a massive stiff arm to push the Knights supporter away from her shot. All the while, she repeated "Nope!" over and over again.

Eventually, the fan got the hint and bolted ... and Rivera finished her segment like a pro. Afterward, she took to Twitter to blast the guy for trying to interrupt her at work.

"Listen," she wrote, "I don't give a damn what team you're rooting for -- get the hell out of my face when I'm working and respect that I'm here to do my job."

"Excited to get back home to some classy #Panthers fans for game 3!!" she added.

Fans all over social media lauded Rivera's actions ... with many comparing her right arm to none other than NFL star Derrick Henry's!!

Bobby Shmurda is distancing himself and his ears from today's generation of rappers ... claiming to only catch wind of new hip hop music when he's out partying in the club.

The Brooklyn MC got real candid firing off his anti-rap opinions on a recent appearance on "The Danza Project" podcast, where he called out the gamut of today's rappers for leading younger listeners astray with exaggerated narratives of their gangster tales.

Bobby says hip hop is supposed to uplift people, not influence negativity, so he actively stopped following the culture, and chooses instead to bump reggae these days.

He says his connection to rap has been lost to the point that a popular new rapper could diss him on a song, and he would be oblivious to the whole thing!!!

Bobby isn't alone in his thinking there are too many dark clouds hanging over the rap scene these days.

TMZ Hip Hop recently caught up with Ty Dolla $ign and he told us his upcoming dance EP is a direct counterattack to what he calls a negative music overload.

What's odd about Bobby's hot take is that his own catalog features some less-than-happy-go-lucky tracks.

Kanye West and his family wanted to touch base with the man upstairs this weekend -- but it appears they were interrupted by the paparazzi ... which set Papa Bear off.

The rapper-producer was heading to church Sunday in L.A. with his "wife," Bianca Censori, and at least one of his kids -- 4-year-old Psalm. They were being hounded by photographers the whole time ... and at one point, Ye had to stop his car and deal with them himself.

It's unclear if this happened while he was going to church or leaving -- but, in any case, it got ugly on the side of the road ... where KW berated some of the paps tailing him.

In video, obtained by TMZ, you can see and hear Ye losing it -- yelling at the paps and demanding that they stop following him. He even used an expletive to get his point across.

Unfortunately, it doesn't seem they left him alone ... because photos later popped up that show Ye and co. at what seemed to be their final destination. In the lot of whatever facility they were at for church, Ye could be seen playing with Psalm ... who brought his bike.

Bianca, meanwhile, was standing right next to them ... and she had an interesting outfit on, as did Kanye. It seems like whatever service they were going to might've been themed, because others who were heading inside also appeared to be thematically dressed.

It's great to see Kanye doing the dad thing as he and Kim continue to coparent/blend families -- but it's a bummer that they can't do it without a lens in their face 24/7. Catch-22.

Elon Musk says a Vermont high school student and her family are getting a raw deal ... as they've been punished for demanding a biological male student -- who identifies as female -- be barred from the girls' locker rooms.

Former University of Kentucky swimmer, and now political activist, Riley Gaines amplified the Allen family's battle on Saturday -- tweeting Blake Allen had been suspended from school, and her father had been fired from his job.

Those were the consequences for the Allens who said Blake and some of her volleyball teammates were uncomfortable undressing in front of a fellow student who identifies as female ... but was born male.

Elon replied to Riley's tweet, "Incredibly unjust." Blake got a 2-day suspension and was reportedly told she couldn't return to school before apologizing for her feelings. Meanwhile, her father -- a middle school soccer coach -- had been suspended without pay because he publicly defended Blake, according to the Daily Signal.

The Allens did win some relief in the form of a lawsuit they filed against the school district ... which was recently settled. They'll reportedly get $125k in damages and attorney fees, plus Blake's suspension has been scrubbed from her record, and her father got back his coaching job.

As we reported, there's a similar legal battle at the University of Wyoming, where Kappa Kappa Gamma sisters are suing their sorority for allowing transgender Artemis Langford into the group.